Promise of the Sun and Moon
by Green Eyed Gerudo
Summary: Kafei and Anju's undying love from the time they meet and after their wedding. The first two chapters are tragedies exploring what would have happened if Link hadn't come to save the day. The third chapter is happy and the rest expand on their marriage.
1. Kafei's Tragedy

**Author's Note and summary (PLEASE READ. STORY WILL MAKE MORE SENSE): Okay, so awhile back, one of my readers requested that I write a story about Kafei and Anju. I finally found the time to do it. Their love, to me, is so beautiful even though it's just in a video game, and I hope I do it justice.**

**So about the actual story…I intended on making it three one-shots wrapped in one, if that makes sense. The first chapter/one-shot is in Kafei's POV. It starts from when he and Anju first met and up until it ties in with the events of Majora's Mask. The second is in Anju's POV. Some of the scenes are the same except with her personal thoughts and not Kafei's, but there's a lot of new scenes that Kafei's POV may not have mentioned or elaborated on much …so be sure to read both!**

**The first two, anyway, are meant to be tragic. Kafei's POV is exploring what might have happened if Link had helped up until the point that he did give Anju the Pendant of Memories, meaning she'd wait for Kafei, but Link never came to help Kafei retrieve the Sun's Mask from Sakon's Clutches.**

**In Anju's POV, Link helps deliver the letter and meet Kafei. He helps Kafei on the quest to retrieve the Sun's Mask but forgets to give Anju the pendant, meaning Kafei returns to the inn only to find that Anju didn't wait for him (you can look up the scene on YouTube or even play it in MM. Do the whole quest through normally but don't give Anju the pendant…it's very sad. Kafei arrives at the inn and if you talk to him, he comments on how lovely Anju's bridal gown is and how he wasn't able to keep his promise to her). Needless to say, in both tragedies, the moon does indeed crash.**

**But don't worry if tragedy isn't your cup of tea…I know when I read a tragedy I feel almost vaguely depressed the rest of the day! So for the third chapter, I made it a switch-off between Kafei and Anju's POV's and it ends happily. All goes well, the moon doesn't crash, and they are married. I was going to stop the story at the wedding, but I fell in love with writing about these characters so much that I continued writing about their marriage and stuff. **

**The story shouldn't turn out to be too long, but before I get reviewers complaining that I killed off Kafei and Anju, the third chapter is the happy one! I would recommend reading the first two however because it makes more sense once you read the third because of certain references to things that happened in the previous chapters. The reason I came up with the idea for this is because Kafei and Anju was the hardest and most time-consuming side-quest in the whole game…and I'm sure in real life Link would have failed to help them the first few times but kept playing the Song of Time to go back and try to help them again and again until he finally got it right. **

**So sorry for the long A/N. Without further adieu, I present to you the first chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda or any of its characters, but I'm pretty sure none of the writers on FF. net do…**

Kafei's POV

I think I must have been about nine years old when I first met Anju. It had been raining, and she'd been at the laundry pool crying.

I'd seen her before. Her family had moved to Termina a few months before. They had come all the way from Hyrule in search of work and had opened up a cafeteria. It soon became an inn for travelers, which was always quite popular around the Carnival of Time, which attracts tourists from all around the world to Clock Town each year.

I remember the first time I saw Anju. She had been outside the cafeteria, holding her grandmother's hand and eyeing the town with curiosity as her mother and father unloaded their belongings from a carriage into the cafeteria. I'll admit…I've always had a thing for redheads (which is probably part of the reason why rumors began to spread about me and Cremia, but that's an entirely different story). I didn't make an effort to talk to her at that time because I had been hanging out in the little gang called the Bombers that I used to be the leader of (we were a secret organization that helped townspeople in need then wrote it in our notebooks...however, some of the older townsfolk saw us as a nuisance and seemed to think that we were troublemakers instead of "Leaders of Justice" as we liked to call it).

I remember later that day going home and hearing Mother gossiping about the newcomers. Now, everyone who knows Madame Aroma knows she likes two things: getting drunk off Romani Milk and gossiping. And when she gets drunk, there is no quieting that gossip-loving mouth of hers for hours. This flaw had earned her a bad reputation around town, being the mayor's wife and all. My father, Mayor Dotour, had no backbone and used to let her walk all over him constantly. And if someone ever tried to tell him about it, he'd quickly change the subject.

Anyway, Mother had just gotten back from the bar that night and she was gossiping to one of her lady friends about how much she hated Anju's mother Eleanor because apparently when they were teenagers, Mother remembered Eleanor coming down to Clock Town one year for the Carnival of Time. They became friends, and Mother introduced Eleanor to her friends and her best friend's teenage-love, Tortus. Then the night of the Carnival of Time, Mother caught Eleanor kissing Tortus behind their backs or something like that…I didn't pay much attention to the details. Just that Mother despised Eleanor and her family, and her current husband, which had been her friend's boyfriend at the time. Her friend had been depressed over it for a long time, especially since Eleanor took Tortus back with her to Hyrule and they eventually got married. Mother said that her friend never recovered, and that's why she never married. Secretly, I loved Eleanor for taking Tortus from Mother's friend, because then my sweet angel Anju wouldn't have been created.

Anju was really shy. She'd walk around town doing errands for her family and she wouldn't speak to hardly anyone and if someone spoke to her, she'd blush and answer with a quick nod or shake of the head.

Months passed by. Living under the roof of the mayor who also happens to have an alcoholic-gossip loving wife was never easy (which was probably the reason why I soon began sneaking into the Stock Pot Inn at night, but we'll get to that later). So of course I had to have a place to get away from it all: the Laundry Pool. Most everyone knows about the Laundry Pool. Wives go there to wash their family's laundry. But hardly anyone loiters there any longer than need be. That was the perfect getaway for me, and whenever I was stressed, hanging around the Laundry Pool always seemed to calm me. Plus, my friend's father owned a place called the Curiosity Shop (which he soon passed down to his son), and not many people knew this, but the Laundry Pool had a secret door leading to the storage room of the shop. I happened to have a spare key.

I remember I was annoyed with the combined stress of my father's mayor duties plus my mother's never-ending gossiping, so I had just stormed out to take a walk to the Laundry Pool (I gave up on announcing where I was going years before because my mother would send people to spy on me). Much to my surprise, someone was already there. It was Anju, and she was crying with her face in her hands. She didn't notice me standing there. I considered running away to give her some privacy, but I was too involved at that point, and something made me want to go comfort her.

I was nervous to talk to her, but I figured that chances were that she'd want someone to talk to, and she'd be grateful if I offered her a shoulder to cry on.

I took a seat next to her on the little bench she was on, and gently tapped her shoulder. She jumped in surprise and turned to look at me. The instant I looked into those beautiful blue eyes I knew that I wanted to be with her. I was only nine at the time, so I won't go as far to say that I was in love when I couldn't even practically spell love at the time, but I still knew at that point that I had it bad for her.

"Why are you crying, Miss?" I asked, trying to be polite. She sniffled and looked down at the floor.

"My mom just told me that my Daddy is really sick, and the town doctor said that there's nothing he can do for him, and he might die soon." The girl burst into tears again. I didn't know what to tell her. I didn't know how she felt. I'd never had anyone close to me die, and I wouldn't know what it felt like until ten years later. I settled for rubbing her back with a comforting hand.

"I'm sorry." was the best I could manage. Apparently that was enough, because she threw her arms around me and began crying into my shoulder. I was probably bright red, but my main concern after that was trying to make her feel better. After a couple of minutes she calmed down quite a bit.

"I'm Anju." She sniffled.

"Kafei." I said, holding out my hand to her. She accepted it and shook it.

"Thank you Kafei, for making me feel a little bit better." She gave a small smile, and I remember thinking how pretty she looked when she smiled, even if it was a small one. My mission from then on was to make her smile even bigger and make her laugh all the time.

"Do you come here often?" she asked me.

"Yes. It's my place to escape from home." At this, she looked at me weird. I explained the situation with my family. Suddenly she looked shocked.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said quickly. I soon found out that one of her traits was that she was always quick to apologize. "I didn't realize you were the mayor's son. How silly of me. Back in Hyrule we had to bow to the leaders of a country…how do we show respect to political leaders here?" I shook my head quickly

"That's for royalty. We're not royalty, and we're not the leaders of a country, just this town. And don't worry about me being Dotour's son. I'm a kid just like you, and we should be friends." Anju's face lit up at this.

"Really? You want to be friends with me?" I nodded. She threw her arms around me again, making me blush again, or at least I think I did. "Oh thank you! I've never had a guy friend before!" she said. I smiled at her.

"Well now you do! Plus I'll introduce you to the guys some time! They'll like you!" I told her, but then I remembered Tom (my friend whose dad owned the Curiosity Shop, and who was also my "second-in-command" of the Bombers at the time). He happened to be more of a "ladies' man" at the time than me. He simply knew how to talk to a girl to make her fall for him, and I didn't because I was too shy. I silently wondered if there was a way to get around introducing Anju to him before he took her from me.

"You're the sweetest boy I know, Kafei!" she told me, which I'm sure made me blush again. As soon as I got home, I wrote about her in my Bomber's Notebook.

Tortus passed away less than two weeks later. The family had a private funeral for him. I waited for Anju at the Stock Pot Cafeteria (which became the Stock Pot Inn about a month later). When her family returned, I gave her the bouquet of flowers I'd picked for her (most of them were roses. My hands were all cut up but I didn't care at the time) and offered my condolences. Her mother apparently didn't know who I was at the time, but when I introduced myself as the mayor and Aroma's son, I saw a scowl briefly cross her features (she probably remembered her history with Aroma), but she quickly softened her gaze when she realized I'd come without my parent's knowledge simply to be respectful. I guess Eleanor had to appreciate that gesture whether she liked my family or not. She thanked me and I left the family alone to grieve. I remember Mother inquiring about my hands, but thankfully my father unknowingly came to the rescue by telling her I'm a boy and was probably just messing around roughhousing with the other boys. I'm glad Father said that because I couldn't come up with anything to say at the time.

Anju didn't come out of the inn to play for weeks. I wanted to go to the inn and cheer her up, but I also wanted to give her some time alone with her family to grieve. Finally one day as I was going on one of my usual walks to the Laundry Pool, I saw a redhead walking out of the inn.

"Anju!" I shouted, but paused when the girl turned around. It wasn't Anju. But Anju was the only redheaded girl in the town besides her mother, and there was no way that petite build could possibly be Eleanor. The girl smiled.

"Anju! Your boyfriend's here!" she said, giggling. "You must be Kafei! I'm Cremia!" she said, grabbing my hand and shaking it. Finally I saw Anju exit the inn, her lovely features covered by a deep red blush.

"He's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend." I barely heard Anju whisper to Cremia. Anju's blush quickly faded away and she ran up to me to give me a hug. "Kafei, I haven't seen you in weeks. I thought you had forgotten about me." I hugged her back.

"I could never forget about you, Anju. I was simply giving you and your family some space." I informed her.

Cremia had definitely had a crush on me. Her dad had been in town delivering milk from Romani Ranch, and she'd met Anju and they'd been playing. Apparently Anju had also described me to Cremia, and that's how she had known who I was.

Cremia asked me to take her on a tour around town. I agreed to be nice. I remember looking at Anju's expression. There was a pang of jealousy. So I invited Anju to come along too, which immediately lit up her expression. Cremia kept trying to hold my hand the whole time. I eventually just crossed my arms so she couldn't. Then in the middle of the "Grand Tour", she got bored and starting talking about how her mom was pregnant and she hoped it was a girl. Then she joked that the baby would be my future brother or sister in-law. I remember this made Anju look really upset. I then wondered if I should introduce Cremia to Tom and see if she'd fall for him like every other girl seemed to so she'd quit crushing on me.

Throughout the years, Anju and I became inseparable. Eventually Mother found out (I'm sure she sent one of her guards to follow and spy on me), and told me she didn't approve of me hanging out with Anju, but I obviously ignored her. Anju was also close with Cremia. Her mother had died giving birth to her little sister, who was named Romani after the ranch. Anju had comforted Cremia, telling her that she could relate to losing a parent.

We were all sixteen when Cremia's dad died delivering milk to Clock Town. He had tried to fight off some bandits trying to steal his milk but they had shot him to death with arrows. Little Romani had only been six. Cremia had brought her to Clock Town and as Anju comforted Cremia, I tried to comfort little Romani. Eleanor had let them stay at the inn for a few days just until they got back on their feet.

A few days later, Tom came up with the bright idea that we should all go to the bar and get drunk (apparently he thought it would help Cremia drink her troubles away). At first, Cremia was reluctant to go to the very bar her father had recently been killed trying to deliver to, but she eventually agreed. So Anju, Tom, Cremia, and I all went to the bar. Anju and I only drank a few to stay sober but Cremia and Tom became –in lack of a better word– wasted. I remember noting how beautiful Anju looked that night. She was wearing a simple baby blue dress and it really brought out her eyes. I figured that since I'd been crushing on her for seven years that would be a good night to make my move. I just had to wait for the right moment.

However, Cremia could always be counted upon.

We had to help Tom stumble back to the Curiosity Shop and listen to his father lecture him for what seemed like hours. Once that was over with, I walked the two girls back to the inn. Cremia's speech was slurred and she was stumbling all over the place.

"Cremia, I told you you'd had enough after your third glass, but you didn't listen to me." Anju told her. Cremia laughed loudly.

"Oh Anju, you're hardly any fun. You should just relax and let yourself go." She said in a slurred voice. Cremia then looked at me, and ran her fingers through my hair, then stumbled forward, almost falling face-first on the cobblestone. "Kafei, you're so…handsome. With your lovely violet locks and red, piercing eyes…and you're such a gentleman." She then looked at Anju. "I think I'm in love with him." She said.

"Cremia, you're wasted. Let's get you to bed." I told her. She then looked back at me.

"Oh, Kafei…you're always looking out for us girls. You're such a sweetheart…" without any warning, she grabbed my head, pulled it towards hers, and thrust her tongue in my mouth. I remember that she tasted like alcohol, and the kiss did absolutely nothing for me. After my state of shock, I gently pulled her away and looked at her like she was crazy. I suddenly remembered that Anju was standing there. Her eyes filled with tears.

"Cremia…how could you?" she shouted, darting away sobbing. I stared at Anju in shock. Was it possible that she had the same feelings I had for her?

"What's her problem?" Cremia said in her slurred voice again. She then turned to me and attempted to kiss me again, but I gently held her back.

"Cremia, you're drunk. You don't mean this." I said calmly. She shook her head quickly.

"No Kafei, I've always wanted you. From the first moment I saw you…"

"Cremia," I cut her off. "I'm in love with Anju. I'm sorry, but I simply cannot return your feelings…if those are your true feelings and not the alcohol speaking." I told her.

"But Anju just waited so long to make her move, I…"

"Her move?" I interrupted. "Wait a minute, Anju has the same feelings for me that I do for her?"

"Of course she does, you idiot! What are you, slow?" she asked, stumbling forward. Although that had been an insult, my mood immediately lightened up at this. Anju had feelings for me! I'd expected it for a while, but it was different to actually hear it from Cremia!

I decided I was going to make my move as soon as we got the drunken Cremia settled.

Once we got to the inn, I led Cremia upstairs to the bedroom she and her sister were staying at. Romani was fast asleep in one of the two beds. I told Cremia goodnight then went to look for Anju. I figured she might be in her grandmother's room trying to coax her to eat (apparently the poor woman went a little crazy after Tortus died. She called every boy she saw and sometimes Anju "Tortus" and she would always refuse to eat…however, I think she might have refused to eat simply because although Anju had many talents, cooking certainly wasn't one of them).

I went downstairs and knocked on her grandmother's door.

"I'm sorry, Tortus. It's simply too late to read you a story. We'll have to wait until morning!" I heard the old woman shout.

"This is Kafei. Would you happen to know where Anju is?" I shouted. Suddenly Eleanor appeared in the hallway. Naturally, she was scowling at me.

"What do you need, Kafei?" she said rather harshly.

"Did Anju go to bed? I can't seem to find her." I responded. At this, Eleanor's eyebrows elevated.

"I haven't seen her since this afternoon. I thought she'd return with Cremia." Her eyes suddenly narrowed. "If I find out you let my daughter get as drunk as you let Cremia get, I swear I'll –"

"No threat's necessary, ma'am." I cut her off quickly. "Anju didn't get drunk." I also wanted to add that I didn't "let" Cremia get drunk…it was her decision. But I decided it would be best not to anger the woman further. My main concern at that moment was Anju. Where could she be?

"Where is my daughter, then? Why didn't you stay with her?" Eleanor asked.

"She ran off. Cremia upset her. I thought she'd ran back to the inn." I told Eleanor. I decided not to get into too much detail about it. "I'll go find her and bring her straight home." I said, quickly running off before the woman could make good on any threats she had planned for me.

Naturally the first place I checked was the Laundry Pool. Sure enough, Anju was there on the bench with her face in her hands, sobbing. She reminded me of the first time we met seven years before.

"Anju," I whispered, walking over to her.

"Leave me alone, Kafei." She said without even looking up.

"No, Anju. I need to speak with you." I said, taking a seat next to her on the bench. I paused, not knowing where to begin or what to say. Also like seven years before. "Anju, what Cremia did was really insensitive. But she's just drunk. I'm sure she'll forget about it by morning."

"No Kafei, she won't." Anju murmured. "She's wanted you ever since I introduced you two. I guess tonight she finally decided to make her move."

"Okay, but like I said, she's just drunk. Besides, it wouldn't make a difference whether she was drunk or sober. I'm not interested in her. I'm in love with somebody else." I said, hinting at what I was getting at. Anju didn't seem to get the hint.

"Congratulations, Kafei. I'm glad you found somebody." She said, still refusing to look at me. "You deserve the best." Did she not realize that it was her I was in love with?

"She is the best." I told her. "She's the perfect girl for me."

"I'm happy for you, Kafei. Really I am. Do I know her?" she asked, looking almost defeated.

"You could say that." I told her. "She's smart, sweet, beautiful…everything I could ever hope for."

"She sounds perfect." Anju whispered.

"To me, she is. But no, she also has three flaws. For example, she's quick to apologize. Also, she can be very timid at times to the point that it's almost awkward. Not only that, but she isn't a very good cook, either." I said with a slight smile on my face. At this Anju finally looked up at me, finally starting to realize what I was getting at. "But you know what? I don't pay attention to those minor details. I look at her as a whole, and when I do, I see the girl…no, the woman that I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with." Tears immediately sprung back into her blue eyes, but this time they seemed to be happy tears. I caught one with my thumb as I stroked her cheek. "I love you, Anju. And no one else." At this, her whole face lit up.

"Oh, Kafei…" she whispered, leaning closer to me. I decided to close the distance between us with a kiss. It was a sweet, simple kiss…nothing like the aggressive, drunken kiss I had received from Cremia earlier that night. After a few seconds, I pulled away and looked deep into her eyes.

"You looked beautiful tonight, by the way." I told her. She smiled at this.

"I'm glad you noticed." She said, seeming happy. I then remembered Eleanor and the promise I'd made to her to bring Anju straight home.

"I would love to stay here with you the whole night, but I promised your mother I'd bring you straight home once I found you, and I don't want to further anger someone who already wants to rip me limb from limb and eat me for dinner." Anju burst out laughing at this.

"Okay, let's go back then. The next time I see you I want to see you with all your limbs attached, alive and well…not in a strange concoction my mother cooks up for us." She said, causing us both to laugh.

"I'm going to walk you home, and then I'll see you tomorrow." I told her, kissing her forehead.

XXX

The next day, Cremia and Romani went back home to the ranch. Cremia had decided they'd been away from home long enough. Naturally, Cremia had a hangover, so I decided to go see if Tom did, too. Of course he did, and as punishment, his father wouldn't allow him to enjoy the festivities of the eve of the Carnival of Time. My father had to help with the town's preparations and stuff, and my mother of course intended on going to the milk bar later on, so I excused myself from my house and spent the day with Anju. It was our first day spent together as an official couple. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary except an occasional kiss here and there. Anju had a yellow dress on that came to her knees and she had her hair pinned back in a tight bun. I commented on how lovely she looked, and thoroughly enjoyed the deep blush I got out of her. I immediately thought back on my mission I had when I was a Bomber to make her laugh and smile constantly. As soon as I got home that night, I intended on finding my old Bomber's Notebook and writing next to her name and picture that I'd completed that mission.

By time midnight rolled around, we watched the Clock Tower open and the fireworks burst. It was a very romantic way to spend our "first date".

"Anju," I said after the fireworks ceremony was over. Anju and I were sitting on the edge of the stairs leading to the Laundry Pool, and her head rested on my shoulder.

"Hmm?" she whispered.

"Did you ever hear about people who exchange Masks of the Sun and Moon and get married on the Carnival of Time?" Anju looked up at this.

"Yes. It's supposed to symbolize true love and ensure a long, lasting marriage." She said.

"Would you ever do that with me, then?" I asked almost awkwardly. It was basically an early marriage proposal. Anju's eyes lit up at this.

"Are you asking me to marry you?"

"No rush. We can wait a year or two to see if we make a compatible couple, but yes. I'd love to marry you and exchange masks and vows on the Carnival of Time. How about you?"

"Oh, Kafei! How romantic, I'd love to!" she practically shouted, hugging my arm.

"Let's make a promise, then. One day we will get married on the Carnival of Time, and we shall exchange masks. I will make the Sun Mask and you will make the Moon Mask."

"I promise." She said, smiling. I returned the smile and kissed her. "That reminds me," she said, reaching into her bag. "This was my father's." She opened her hand to reveal an intricate pendant painted blue, silver and gold. The pendant was attached to a string. "I want you to have it." I shook my head at this.

"No, Anju. I couldn't…"

"Please, Kafei. He'd want you to have it. You're my angel. It's like you were sent to me to make me happy after he passed away. It's yours." Her words touched me so much that it took everything in me not to tear up. Hesitantly, I accepted the pendant and put it around my neck.

"I love it. Thank you." I said as I examined the pendant. Anju smiled and kissed my cheek.

"I love you." She whispered.

XXX

The next three years went by rather fast. I proposed to Anju about a month and a half before the Carnival of Time, on her nineteenth birthday. That gave us plenty of time to work on our masks.

As I was putting the finishing touches on my Sun Mask a month prior to the wedding, I wondered how Anju's Moon Mask was coming along. Knowing her, it probably wasn't even near completion yet. She always tended to do things at the last minute. Once it was finished, I figured it deserved to be showed off to the guys and Tom at the milk bar later that night.

Yawning and stretching, I walked over to my little work desk in the corner of my room and opened my diary. In it I wrote:

_The wedding ceremony is soon. It might be early, but I finished my wedding mask. I wonder if Anju has made hers? She tends to do things at the last minute, so probably not. There is a gathering of the fellows at the Milk Bar tonight. I plan to show off my wedding mask and talk about my sweetheart as best I can._

Once that was done, I grabbed my coat and mask and exited the house.

Once I made it to the Milk Bar, Tom and the guys were already there.

"Hey, Kafei!" shouted a drunken Tom. I smiled and shook my head at him. I guess he never learns.

"Hey guys." I said, taking a seat next to Tom. "I'll have the Chateau Romani." I told the bartender, handing him my rupees.

"Coming right up!" he said cheerfully.

"Is that your wedding mask?" one of the guys (Timothy) asked. I smiled proudly.

"Yep." I responded.

"Can we see it?" Victor asked from behind Timothy. Everyone appeared to be wasted.

"Sure," I said, holding it up so they could see it but not letting any of them touch it in fear of them dropping it or something.

"It's nice. How long did it take you to make, Kafei?" Tom asked.

"Eh, not long." I responded, letting myself brag a bit.

"Has Anju finished hers?" Victor asked.

"Probably not. She likes to do things at the last minute. But I bet she'll look gorgeous at the wedding ceremony." I told them, taking a swig of milk.

"Yeah, well, if it doesn't work out between you two, I certainly wouldn't mind scooping her up." Said Tom. This caused me to laugh. Tom was a flirt, but since Anju was officially mine, I knew he knew that she was completely off-limits to him, no matter what happened between us.

"You won't have to worry about that, Tom. Anju and I will last forever." I responded, chugging my second jar of milk. Normally I never drank that much, but I figured I'd have fun just for that night and let myself get drunk.

That was a mistake that I soon paid for.

There was a bald, grinning man at the Milk Bar that night. None of the guys seemed to know him personally, so I didn't pay much attention to him. He sat on the opposite end of the bar and just sat there slowly drinking his milk and eyeing my mask with interest. I didn't really seem to notice it much at that point, though.

After six glasses, I figured I'd had enough. I told the guys goodnight and left with my mask in hand. Thankfully I lived close to the Milk Bar; otherwise I would have had trouble stumbling around in my drunken state.

I whistled a tune merrily as I walked back to my house, happy that I'd be married to the love of my life in a mere month's time. Then out of the corner of my eye, something caught my interest. A lone little imp-like kid with a strange mask was sitting against the wall with his arms crossed, and he was staring at the floor dejectedly. Two fairies, one yellow and one purple, fluttered around his head.

"Hey kid, are you lost?" I asked.

"Will you play with me?" the kid asked, looking up at me. Then his eyes caught notice of my Sun Mask. "Hey Mister, that's a nice mask! Can I see it?" the kid got up suddenly and darted towards me. I clutched the mask protectively against my chest.

"Hey, easy! I worked hard on this mask!" I shouted, holding it just above his reach. The kid jumped and jumped but couldn't reach it no matter how hard he tried.

"How dare you pick on me? I just wanted to see it!" the kid shouted, leaping even higher.

"Quit trying to grab it!" I shouted. Keeping the mask high above my head, I began to walk back to my house.

"How dare he!" I heard him tell the fairies. "Just because he's taller than me he was able to keep me from seeing the mask!" I heard him mumble something to the fairies.

"Don't do it, Skull Kid!" one of the fairies shouted.

"Yeah, Skull Kid! Just let him go!" another one said.

Before I even realized what was happening, I involuntarily froze in my tracks. My clothes suddenly became a few sizes too large, and the ground was slowly coming closer and closer.

"What the hell?" I shouted. I stared at my hands, but they weren't mine! They were that of a child's! My clothes were saggy on me, my pants were now mysteriously shorts, and my shoes were much too big for my feet. "I'm never drinking this much again." I murmured, thinking the beverages I consumed were making me hallucinate. I then heard a sinister laugh. I turned around. The little imp was standing there laughing at me.

"You fool. You're not imagining things. I put a curse on you. Because you picked on me and used your height to your advantage, I made you small. You're now my size! Now you can see what it feels like to let bigger people pick on you!" the kid laughed and skipped away. "You know, I don't much like the people in this town. I think I'll curse the town to be destroyed!" the kid told the fairies. Then they disappeared.

"What the hell? Am I just drunk? I'd better go see Anju." I decided. I was going to climb up to the second-story balcony and go in through the secret door there that not too many people knew about.

On days when my mother would argue with my father, I used to sneak through that door and into Anju's room, and I used to spend the night just cuddling with her (no sexual contact whatsoever, much to Tom's disbelief. I would never pressure Anju into anything she wasn't ready to do). But when we were seventeen, her mother caught me, chased me out (I practically flew off the balcony to get away from that crazed woman), and she'd moved her bed in that room and slept in there with Anju for about a year to make sure it didn't happen again. I was pretty sure she'd finally moved back to the grandmother's room once Anju turned eighteen since Anju and I were adults by law from that point on, but I never risked going back again to find out (honestly, I think I'd sprouted my first gray hair that night. That was the most horrific experience I've ever been through).

I decided to try and see Anju, anyway. If Eleanor caught me, she'd see the predicament I was in and try to help…either that, or she'd use my new look as a good reason to tell Anju to postpone the wedding. I'd been friends with Anju for ten years, and her boyfriend for three. I'd tried to prove my faithfulness to Eleanor all those years and she still didn't like or trust me. I suppose it had to do with her and my mother's past. My mother had also tried to talk me out of marrying Anju, but after a few mean words were exchanged between us, she never spoke of it again.

As I was climbing up to the second balcony, I accidentally dropped my mask.

"NO!" I shouted, reaching out for it. Thankfully, it landed in a soft pile of dirt below. "Phew." I breathed. I began to climb down to get it. But suddenly the bald grinning man from earlier pranced out of the bar. The fallen mask caught his interest and he began to dart towards it. I dropped down and let the man pick it up. "Thank you." I told him, holding my hand out. I guess I had expected him to give it to me. I had thought he'd seen me drop it and wanted to help out. But I was completely wrong.

He apparently didn't seem to recognize me as the man at the bar from earlier, and he pushed me roughly. "Move, Kid!" he shouted. In my nineteen year-old state, I would have been able to maintain my balance and chase him down and get my mask back. But my scrawny ten year-old body couldn't handle the force of the push, so I fell on my back. As soon as I got back up, the man was prancing towards the East Gate.

"No!" I shouted, darting after him. But the guard at the gate stopped me. "What the hell?" I demanded.

"I can't allow a child like you to exit the town alone, especially at night! Go home, Kid! Where are your parents?" the guard demanded. I was about to retort, but then I remembered that if you looked any younger than fourteen, you weren't allowed to exit town by yourself without a parent or guardian.

"That prancing idiot stole my mask!" I shouted.

"I apologize, there's nothing I can do to help. I'm just a gate guard. You can bring it to the attention of the mayor tomorrow morning. The mayor's office opens at 10 am. They can sketch up a wanted poster if you'd like." I suddenly remembered that all stolen things usually tend to end up at the Curiosity Shop, now owned by none other than Tom! Maybe he could help me!

I darted towards the Laundry Pool and waited. Soon enough, my drunken, nineteen year-old friend showed up. He was smiling at nothing in particular as if he was daydreaming. He then took notice of my ten year-old body. His smile faded and he rubbed his eyes and blinked at me in confusion.

"Kafei?" he asked.

"Tom," I started to say. Tom blinked and shook his head.

"There's no way…who the hell are you, little kid, and why do you look like Kafei?" he asked.

"Tom, it's me! Kafei!" I protested. I quickly remembered the Keaton Mask he gave to me long ago that I happened to have with me (very convenient, I know…), so I pulled it out of my pouch and showed it to him to prove who I was. "Remember this?" Tom's mouth fell open in shock.

"The Keaton Mask!" he shouted. Then realization struck him. "What the hell happened to you, man? You look like a little kid!"

"That's because I am one, you moron." I said half-jokingly, but I was in no mood to smile or indicate that I was joking. "Some stupid little imp cursed me. And as I was on my way to sneak into Anju's room, I–"

"Ooh, you were sneaking into Anju's room? Damn, even in your kid form, you're still a little stud!" at this I glared daggers at him.

"This ISN'T a joking matter, you drunk imbecile!" I shouted. Tom's drunken smile faded slightly.

"Okay, man. Chill. What were you saying?" I took a deep breath and started again.

"I dropped my wedding mask, and some bald prancing man with a grinning face stole it and ran off with it." Tom's eyes widened at this.

"Are you talking about Sakon? That guy that was at the bar earlier?" he asked.

"Yeah, do you know him?"

"Yeah, he comes to the shop all the time to buy and sell stolen goods. I bet he's going to try and sell your mask to me."

"Yeah, and I can't be seen around town like this until that happens, especially by Anju. Will you let me stay in the back room of the shop until that Sakon guy comes by?" I asked him.

"You mean you want to hide?" I nodded. "Well you can't keep yourself cooped up in there for the Guardians know how long! You're going to have to come out at some point! People will eventually see you like this. It's inevitable." I bit my lip in thought.

"Well when I do go out, I'll just have to go out with this." I said, holding up the Keaton Mask.

"Oh, I see. You're going to wear the mask so people don't recognize you."

"Right. And I'm going to track that prancing man down and get my Sun Mask back in time for the wedding ceremony."

"That's nice and all, but what do you suppose Anju will say when she sees you like this?" Tom asked. I frowned at this.

"Well, we'll just have to worry about that when it happens, won't we?" I asked, wondering what she really _would _say.

XXX

"KAFEI! KAFEI!" I groaned as light flooded into the little room I was staying in.

"Damn it, Tom! Don't you have a hangover, too?" I shouted as I covered my face with the pillow. My head hurt from my first real hangover plus the stress of what had happened the night before. "And quit saying my name so loudly! Not only does it feel like a hammer on my brains, but someone will hear you!"

"It's three o'clock pm. My hangover passed hours ago thanks to a potion. Drink this and look. You haven't even been gone a day and your mother already had your face printed on each front page of every newspaper in town." He said, throwing the newspaper down on my bed and handing me a Red Potion. I groaned, sat up, and chugged the potion. I handed the empty bottle to him and began to read the newspaper. It said I'd been missing almost a day, and to contact Madame Aroma with any information and she'd give a good reward, no questions asked.

"Damn," I said, feeling a pang of guilt. My mother and I may not have always gotten along, but still, she was my mom, and I still loved her.

"You know, if the reward is big, I might turn you in myself." Said Tom with a chuckle. I just settled for giving him an odd look then shaking my head. I knew he was just joking.

"Don't breathe a word, Tom. I swear, if you even so much as hint that you know my whereabouts…"

"Don't worry, man. I've got your back." He reassured me. "But perhaps you should go see the Great Fairy in North Clock Town. She might be able to help you."

"Okay, but I'll only go at night when not too many people are on the streets. Someone's sure bound to notice my unique hair color." Tom nodded.

"Maybe we should shave it off for reassurance." He said, grabbing a purple lock. I quickly grabbed the strand and pulled all my hair to one side.

"Do _not _touch my hair, Tom." I said sternly yet with a slight grin.

"What? You don't think I could make it look good? I can make it look like mine, see?" I laughed at this.

"No thanks. I like my hair just the way it is." I said, smiling.

Later that night, I put on the Keaton Mask and made my way to the Great Fairy Fountain. When I arrived, a shock awaited me. There was no Great Fairy but a bunch of little pink fairies fluttering around in the middle of the fountain.

"Where is the Great Fairy?" I asked.

The fairies briefly explained to me that the same little imp that placed the curse on me placed a curse on the Great Fairy and broke her into many individual fairies and another fairy similar to the little ones was somewhere out in Clock Town. I wanted to go look for it but I kept myself scarce so I just headed back to Tom's.

XXX

About almost a month passed by and still no sign of Sakon or my precious mask (or the little fairy, for that matter). I decided to get a little fresh air so I put on my Keaton Mask and headed out.

As I was walking, I couldn't help but eavesdrop on some middle-aged women.

"Did you see that hideous thing? Apparently some people want to evacuate town because they're convinced it's going to crash down and destroy everything!" one woman said.

"Nonsense! Do you believe such a thing, Deirdre?" said another. I looked up into the sky to see what they were talking about. Right above town was a horrendous, moon-like object with a scowling face. I suddenly remembered what that little imp said about cursing the town.

"No…" I whispered, not willing to believe my gut feeling. The women continued to gossip, but mainly about pointless things. I tuned them out and just continued to stare up at the ugly moon. Could that odd little kid have really created something that sinister?

"Did you hear, Elsie? Madame Aroma just hired a professional investigator to find her missing son." Said the woman named Deirdre. This grabbed my attention. Was Mother really that desperate to find me?

"I spoke to Eleanor a few days ago. She's convinced that Kafei's run off to avoid getting married." I glared at this. Would Eleanor stop at nothing to sabotage mine and Anju's relationship? But then again, I had to admit, it didn't look good on my part disappearing a month before our wedding. How much time did we have left now? Three days?

"Beatrice, did you hear the rumors that he might have run off with that redheaded girl from the ranch?" this really made me angry. How dare people thought I'd leave Anju for Cremia of all people! Hell, I wouldn't leave her for anyone or anything for that matter! I began to wonder if Eleanor was behind all of the rumors.

"That poor daughter of Eleanor's…she's just so depressed. She thinks that Kafei's gotten cold feet about the wedding." Said Beatrice. I thought back on my notebook entry from ten years ago. So much for my mission.

But maybe there was something I could do.

I immediately darted back to the Curiosity Shop.

XXX

I sat back down on my bed, grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill, and I began to write Anju a letter.

_Dearest Anju,_

_It's me, Kafei. I'm sorry for putting you through all of this, but simply try to understand. I can't see you right now. Something happened to me, but don't worry. I'm perfectly fine. Don't believe all the rumors going around town. I didn't run off with Cremia and I am not getting cold feet about the wedding. I actually want to marry you more than ever. I might not be able to see you for the next three days…something came up, I'm terribly sorry. But if all else fails, I swear to the four Guardians that I will be there on the Carnival of Time to exchange my mask and vows with you. Don't let your mother get to you and talk you out of anything. I swear I wouldn't miss our special day for the world._

_ Love always, _

_ Kafei_

I prayed she would believe me. She honestly deserved so much better than me, even I could admit that much.

Just as I sealed the envelope, Tom came in and threw a newspaper at me.

"Check this out, Kafei! Did you see that hideous moon-like thing?"

"Yes I did." I said, reading the newspaper. The front page talked about the moon, and my picture was on the second page. It still said contact Madame Aroma and it talked briefly about the investigator she hired. It also showed a picture of the mask she had personally made to look like me for the investigator to wear. Tom chuckled at this. "That thing looks nothing like me at all."

"It kinda does!" he said, bursting out laughing. I rolled my eyes, put the Keaton Mask on, and picked up my letter. "Who you mailing to?"

"Anju." I responded.

"Wait a second, I thought you were trying to hide from her."

"I am, but people –namely Eleanor– are spreading rumors about me and Anju's depressed thinking that I'm getting cold feet about our wedding. I may be an ass for hiding from her for this long, but I'm not going to be cruel enough to leave her hanging. I need to at least let her know that I'm not giving up on our relationship." With that, I exited the small room and went to go mail the letter.

XXX

The next day, I had been sleeping soundly when someone rang the bell in the Laundry Pool. Wondering who it could be, I quickly hopped out of bed, put my Keaton Mask on, and darted out the door. It was Victor, and he was wearing his postman uniform.

"Kafei, I have a letter for you." He whispered after looking around to make sure no one was within hearing distance.

"Victor? How did you–?"

"Tom told me you mailed a letter to Anju and he told me where you were staying at after I swore not to breathe a word. He said it'd mean a lot to you if Anju wrote you back and I mailed it to you. When Anju asked where I got the letter from you, I told her it was a secret, so don't worry. She has no clue where you're staying."

"Wow, thanks." I said, taking the letter and darting back into the room, forgetting to lock the door behind me.

I was both excited and nervous to read what Anju wrote back. She'd either say she hated my guts and never wanted to speak to me again or she would say she loved me and she'd wait for me. I hoped for the latter and I ripped open the envelope and began to read the letter as I ascended the staircase.

_Dearest Kafei,_

_I have no idea where you are or what in Termina is going on with you, but I was so relieved to hear from you. I'm glad you're safe and that none of the rumors are true. There is a boy that helped me mail this letter to you. He is a young blond boy with blue eyes, a green hat, green clothes, and a fairy. If you see him, please trust him. If I get some sort of response from you through him, I shall wait for you in my room at the inn on the eve of the carnival. If not, then my mother is dragging Granny and me to take refuge at Cremia's ranch tomorrow night._

_I hope to get a response. _

_ Yours Truly, _

_ Anju_

I breathed a sigh of relief that Anju didn't hate me.

I jumped when I heard the door open. I turned around and expected it to be Tom, but it was a child dressed similarly to what Anju described in her letter.

"Green hat…Green clothes…" I observed. "Anju wrote about you in her letter. It seems you are looking for Kafei." I paused, briefly wondering whether or not I should trust him. "Can you keep a secret?" the boy nodded his head. I paused again. "Anju trusted you. I shall also trust you." I decided. Hesitantly, I removed my Keaton Mask. "I am Kafei." Suddenly the kid's fairy chimed in.

"The Kafei we're looking for is an adult. When I look at you, I just see a child." She said.

"I was turned into this by a strange imp wearing a mask." I explained to them. "But I'm not hiding because I look this way." I almost told them about me climbing up onto Anju's balcony in my drunken state, but I decided against it. So I changed it around a bit. "When I was turned into this, I went to see the Great Fairy in the shrine by the North Gate. But on the way, my precious mask – a wedding ceremony mask – was stolen from me by some prancing man with a grinning face!" I tried not to swear or insult the man and possibly change the child's perception of me because the fairy already seemed to not like me.

"Well…you're just careless. You're like my partner." The fairy responded. I bit back a retort. Although I didn't quite like the fairy, she was right. I had been very careless that night. I brought my precious mask with me to a bar where I intended to get drunk with my buddies, and then began prancing around town drunkenly with the mask. Careless? Yes.

"Before my wedding ceremony I was quite happy. I had been targeted because of what I had been turned into."

"Oh my. I pity you." The fairy said sarcastically. I almost felt like swatting the little thing out of the air, but I quickly pushed that thought out of my head. I didn't want the kid to not like me for harming his fairy partner. He seemed to be the only connection between Anju and me now. But that little thing was certainly getting on my nerves.

"I know Anju is worried…but I can't go out yet. I made a promise to her that I would bring the wedding mask and greet her." I put my Keaton Mask back on and pulled off the pendant that Anju had given me three years ago and handed it to the kid. "This pendant…give it to Anju." The kid nodded and accepted the pendant carefully. "Keep what we just talked about a secret from everyone." The kid nodded and dashed off.

I just prayed the kid was reliable.

XXX

That night, I decided to write a letter to my mother. Apparently the moon was going to fall the following day. I wasn't sure if the rumor was true or not, but just in case, I thought it'd be best to tell Mother I was safe. Maybe it'd encourage her to take refuge. I addressed it to "Mama" (like I used to call her when I was a little boy) and used first-class priority mail to write the letter. In it I explained I was safe and sound and that I loved and missed her and I appreciated all the hard work she was doing to search for me. I left the letter on my bed, prepared to mail it the following morning.

As a usual routine, that night I spied through the secret peephole (that on the outside was meant to look like the armor of an Iron Knuckle) into the Curiosity Shop to wait for Sakon. Just when I gave up all hope of finding my precious mask, the grinning idiot appeared! Tom slyly looked over at the hidden window and talked to Sakon like a regular customer. He spoke to him loudly, probably to make sure I heard. He even got in a loud argument with Sakon to make extra sure I was aware of Sakon's presence! Tom eventually agreed to buy the stolen bombs Sakon stole. Unfortunately, no sign of my mask. But I was going to follow that prancing creep to wherever he was staying at.

I quickly took my mask off and laid it on my bed and left Tom a quick note saying to give the blond boy my Keaton Mask and to have him deliver the letter to Mama. Just as I was exiting the Laundry Pool, I ran into Tom himself.

"Kafei, he's headed towards Ikana! Hurry!" Tom shouted.

"Thanks, man!" I told him, patting his back and taking off towards the East Gate as fast as my ten year-old legs could carry me.

The guard at the gate almost stopped me, but straightened up immediately when he saw my face. "Kafei?" he half-shouted, half-inquired. "Is that you?" he probably had been on the lookout from all the newspapers and missing person posters and stuff.

"No time!" I shouted, pushing past him before he could stop me.

XXX

I followed Sakon all the way to a cliff on Ikana. I discovered that he had a big hideout full of stolen goods there, and there was a big boulder-like door that only Sakon could open. So I hid behind a rock and waited for Sakon to return. While I waited, I stared up at that hideous moon. It was going to crash for sure. It had gotten noticeably closer and not to mention large earthquakes shook the ground every ten minutes or so.

"I'll wait…I've made a promise to Anju. He will show up." I said to myself. I waited and sure enough, Sakon pranced up and opened the door.

Inside was the Sun's Mask, sitting on a conveyor belt.

"It's the Sun's Mask!" I shouted excitedly. I ran up to it to grab it. Apparently I stepped on a switch I hadn't noticed before and it caused an alarm to go off and the conveyor belt to start moving. "Now I've done it!" I shouted. I went to go to the open door, but it abruptly stopped. I bit my lip. It was some sort of set-up to where the door only stayed open if someone was standing on the switch. I suddenly wished that the Green Hat Boy could be here to help me. "Ooh! The mask!" I shouted as I watched it fall into a hole at the end of the conveyor belt.

"Yes! My security system is impenetrable!" I heard Sakon shout.

"I'm locked in." I noticed. "Well, at least Anju's safe at Cremia's ranch." I whispered. Or so I thought.

The moon did indeed crash and it destroyed everything. It even destroyed the safe room I was locked in, which left me a way to escape. As soon as everything seemed clear, I stepped outside.

I hurried as fast as I could to Clock Town, or what was left of it.

Everything had been destroyed. All the houses, the shops, the mayor's office, the bar, the inn…the inn!

I darted to the rubble from the inn to see if there was anything left of it. Then something caught my eye. It was blue, silver, and gold, and it was shiny. It was the pendant. My heart skipped a beat when I saw a bloodied hand clutching it.

I quickly pushed all of the rubble out of the way, the boards and nails and glass tearing at my flesh as I did. Finally I managed to clear all of it. What I saw nearly made me die of a heart attack. It was Anju's barely recognizable body, still clutching the pendant.

She had been waiting for me to return like I promised her in that letter.

That damned letter.

It was my fault. Because of me, she'd died. If I hadn't sent that Green Hat Boy to give her the pendant and have her wait for me, she would have fled to the ranch with the rest of her family and she would have been safe and alive. It was all my fault.

Tears poured down my face as I stared down at her lifeless body.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed, letting tears fall freely. By now, everybody who had taken refuge had all returned to see the damage and the people they had lost.

"ANJU!" I heard a voice shout. It was Eleanor. She got down next to me and we cried together. Shortly after, Cremia followed and she looked at me in my child form confusedly, and then hugged me close to her and we both cried.

The whole town had a big memorial for the people they had lost – Anju, my parents, and Tom being the ones I knew. Eleanor didn't pay much attention to me, but she surprised me by nodding in my direction to acknowledge my presence at the memorial.

I figured she probably hated me for being the one who practically killed her daughter.

I hoped she knew I hated myself as well.

After the next few days, everyone had been laid to rest. I went to Anju's grave and said a little prayer. I then laid the pendant by her headstone and silently apologized for not being her angel enough to protect her from her tragic death. I then went to my parents' and Tom's graves and said prayers for them as well.

I never moved on. I left Clock Town even though it was being rebuilt. It held too many memories for me and I couldn't stand it.

I eventually grew out of my child form and aged normally, I was just nine years behind my real age.

I practically became a nomad, travelling to random places. I couldn't stay in one place too long for the fear of settling down with a wife. I felt like I would be betraying Anju. Anju…my sweet, beautiful angel that was taken from me so abruptly…the hardest part was knowing that it was my own fault, and I had to live with that on my shoulders for the rest of my life.


	2. Anju's Tragedy

**Author's Note: This chapter is in Anju's POV. As I mentioned before, some of the scenes are the same but just in Anju's POV, but there are also scenes that were unmentioned in Kafei's POV or not elaborated on as much.**

**So here is the second tragedy. Remember, the next chapter is happy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Anju's POV

I was nine years old when I met Kafei.

My family had moved from Hyrule into Clock Town in search of work. My parents knew about the Carnival of Time (they'd been to quite a few of those ceremonies) and my father convinced my mother to move to Clock Town and open up an inn for travelers. He said that it would bring in a lot of customers during the Carnival of Time weekend. My mother didn't want to open an inn, so she made it a cafeteria instead.

I'd seen Kafei before. He was the leader of the Bombers gang. I always thought that the gang was up to no good, but it turns out they were secretly trying to help the townspeople out with their problems. I always saw him looking in my direction and I always waited for him to come talk to me, but he never did.

Suddenly one afternoon my mom sat me down and explained to me that my father was very ill and that the doctor couldn't do anything for him and that he might die soon. I was so upset I left the house and ran to the most private place I could think of…the Laundry Pool.

Once I arrived, I sat down on the little bench there and put my face in my hands and cried.

Suddenly a tapping on my shoulder made me jump. I turned to see who had somehow managed to sneak up and sit by me without my realization. It was Kafei of all people. I remember staring into those striking scarlet eyes and vaguely wondering if I could ever be the girlfriend of someone like him. So yes, I developed a little crush on him.

"Why are you crying, Miss?" he asked me. I could tell he was trying to be polite.

"My mom just told me that my daddy is really sick, and the town doctor said that there's nothing he can do for him, and he might die soon." I said in between sobs. I burst into tears again. I could tell that Kafei felt awkward. He didn't know what to tell me, so he started to rub my back comfortingly.

"I'm sorry." He murmured. I threw my arms around him and cried into his shoulder. We stayed like that for several minutes before I calmed down a little.

"I'm Anju." I sniffled.

"Kafei." He responded, holding out his hand. I shook it.

"Thank you Kafei, for making me feel a little bit better." I told him with a small smile. "Do you come here often?"

"Yes. It's my place to escape from home." I gave him an odd look at this. He briefly explained to me that he was the mayor's son and with his father's stressful job and his mother's constant drunken gossip, he needed to escape every once in awhile. I couldn't believe that I hadn't known he was the mayor's son. I remembered that in Hyrule if we saw someone from the royal court, we had to bow to show our respect and always address the person or people as "your highness" or "your majesty". I was pretty sure that I didn't need to do the exact same to Kafei, but I still wasn't sure how to address him or even act in his presence.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I said quickly. One of my weaknesses is that I'm quick to apologize. "I didn't realize you were the mayor's son. How silly of me. Back in Hyrule we had to bow to the leaders of a country…how do we show respect to political leaders here?" Kafei smiled and shook his head quickly.

"That's for royalty. We're not royalty, and we're not the leaders of a country, just this town. And don't worry about me being Dotour's son. I'm a kid just like you, and we should be friends." My stomach filled with imaginary butterflies when he said this.

"Really? You want to be friends with me?" he nodded. I threw her arms around him again, enjoying the deep blush I got out of him. "Oh thank you! I've never had a guy friend before!" I said. He smiled at this.

"Well now you do! Plus I'll introduce you to the guys some time! They'll like you!" he told me.

"You're the sweetest boy I know, Kafei!" I told him, which made him blush again.

As soon as I got home, I wrote about our encounter in my little diary. He'd really managed to cheer me up.

I was still depressed of course, however. My father passed away about two weeks after that. After the private funeral, Kafei surprised me by waiting at home with a bouquet of flowers. Most of them were roses. I could tell he'd picked them because his hands were all cut up. I thought it was the sweetest thing.

He offered his condolences for our loss and Mother asked him who he was. When he introduced himself as the mayor and Madame Aroma's son, I could have sworn I saw a scowl cross her face, but at that time, I wasn't quite sure.

I didn't come out of the house for weeks. I figured at the time that Kafei must have either forgotten about me or he was purposely leaving us alone to grieve.

Eventually my mother changed the Stock Pot Cafeteria to the Stock Pot Inn, just like my father had suggested just a mere few weeks before.

Finally one day I decided to come out. I couldn't stand being in the house anymore. It simply made me too depressed. Plus ever since my father passed away, poor Granny had been losing her mind. She called one of the inn customers Tortus and offered to read him a story about the Carnival of Time.

I told Mother that I wanted to go for a stroll around town to get some fresh air. I intended on visiting Kafei. But when I went outside, there was a big wagon in front of the Milk Bar, which was right across from the inn. Curiously, I walked over to see what it was there for. Standing there was a red headed girl about my age. She saw me and smiled. Deciding to be respectful, I welcomed her to town.

"Welcome to Clock Town. I'm Anju." I said, holding out my hand.

"Hi, I'm Cremia!" the girl said, excitedly shaking my hand.

"Are you and your family moving here?" I asked. The girl shook her head.

"No. We live in Romani Ranch. Have you heard of it?" I shook my head no. "It's a ranch south from Clock Town. Sort of near the forest. I just came with my dad to deliver milk to the Milk Bar."

"That must be where the delicious milk that Mother buys comes from!" I exclaimed.

"Are you new in Clock Town? I've been coming with my dad every month to deliver milk but I've never seen you before."

"Yes. My family just moved here from Hyrule. We opened the inn right there, see?" I said, pointing. I felt a pit in my stomach when I thought that just a mere month ago, my family was happy, my father was alive, and I hadn't a care in the world.

"Ooh, that's a smart idea! I bet you'll get tons of reservations during the Carnival of Time each year!" Cremia exclaimed.

"That was our intent." I told her.

"Well, my dad and I usually stay in Clock Town for awhile while we deliver milk. Do you want to go do stuff together?" I smiled. I had another new friend!

"Sure, but like what?" I asked.

"You can show me the new inn!" Cremia suggested. I smiled.

"Okay, come on!" I told her, leading her to the inn.

XXX

"And are there any handsome guys you know?" Cremia asked. I felt myself blush at this. Somehow we had gone from touring the inn to talking about our lives, and now boys.

"Well…" I started.

"Oh, you like somebody! I can tell by your blush! Who is he? What does he look like? Does he know you exist?" I could feel my cheeks blushing even deeper.

"His name is Kafei. He has a really unique look…violet hair and piercing crimson eyes. We're friends, except I haven't seen him in weeks."

"He sounds cute! And why haven't you seen him?"

"Let's…go outside and get some air." I said. I wasn't quite ready to talk about my father just yet. It was strange, though, how I opened up to Kafei so quickly.

"Okay!" said the short-attention spanned girl. I followed her as she skipped down the stairs and out the front door.

The next thing I heard as I was walking down the staircase was "Anju! Your boyfriend's here!" then I heard: "You must be Kafei! I'm Cremia!" suddenly the butterflies were back in my stomach. Kafei was here?

I quickly darted out to see him, smiling when he smiled at me. I soon blushed, however, when I realized Cremia had called him my boyfriend.

"He's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend." I whispered to Cremia. I excitedly ran and threw my arms around Kafei. "Kafei, I haven't seen you in weeks. I thought you had forgotten about me." The butterflies increased when he hugged me back.

"I could never forget about you, Anju. I was simply giving you and your family some space." He responded.

_How sweet, _I thought.

"Well, Kafei…I haven't seen a lot of Clock Town. Would you care to take me on a Grand Tour?" Cremia asked. My smile faded. Cremia was flirting with him when she knew that I liked him. I thought she was supposed to be my friend.

"Uhh, sure." Said Kafei. He then gave me a funny look. I must have looked jealous or something. "You're coming too, right Anju?" this made me feel much better.

"Sure!" I said. Cremia turned to me and mouthed, "He's cute!" when Kafei wasn't looking. I got really upset when Cremia kept grabbing Kafei's hand and trying to hold it.

Kafei took Cremia to all parts of town, including the Laundry Pool. I breathed a mental sigh of relief when Kafei crossed his arms after Cremia's fourth attempt to hold his hand. Maybe he wasn't interested in Cremia.

When we arrived at the Laundry Pool, Cremia got bored with the tour (I think that she was never really interested in the tour in the first place. She was only interested in HIM) and interrupted him to start talking about her life and how she lived in Romani Ranch and random things from her favorite color to her favorite band.

"Oh yeah! And my mommy is pregnant! I hope she has a girl. Daddy told me that if it's a girl then we're going to name her Romani after the ranch!" Cremia said excitedly.

"That's nice." Said Kafei. I couldn't read his expression.

"Aw, just think. My baby sibling is going to be your future brother or sister-in-law." She said, giggling. I remember how upset this made me. Thankfully, Kafei didn't appear too interested. The look he gave her was more of a "what on earth are you talking about?" type of look, which was a good thing…for me, anyway.

A few weeks later, Cremia's mother died giving birth to Cremia's baby sister, whom they named Romani. I comforted Cremia, finally telling her about my dad and that I could relate to losing a parent. That was when Cremia and I really clicked, I think.

Throughout the next seven years, Kafei and I became really close. Cremia still visited often and we were still friends as well…and she still continuously flirted with Kafei. This worried me more now that we were teens because I knew how young teenage guys could be and I wondered if Kafei was like the rest of the teenage boys (like Tom, for example) and if he'd finally give in to Cremia.

Mother didn't approve of my growing friendship with Kafei at all. She sat me down one night and explained that she didn't like Kafei's mother because apparently years ago when my mother was in town for the Carnival of Time, she met Aroma and Aroma introduced Mother to all her friends and one friend in particular was dating my father. According to Kafei, his mother's side was that my mother stole Tortus from Aroma's friend and Aroma's friend was never the same and stayed single. But my mother's side was that Tortus had already broken up with the woman and fell in love with my mother and when Aroma found out Mother was dating him, she spread rumors and gave my mother a bad reputation around town (which is why I guess my mother was reluctant to come back when my father talked her into it).

I didn't much care how Mother felt about Kafei or his family. No matter what our mothers' histories were, it didn't mean that we couldn't be friends.

When we were all sixteen, Cremia's father died delivering milk to the bar. Apparently he was shot to death with arrows by bandits trying to steal his prized milk. Cremia had to watch her sister that day so she hadn't tagged along on that ride.

Cremia and Romani were just like I was when my dad died. I wanted to be away from home as much as possible. I just couldn't stand being cooped up and suffering in depression. We let them both stay at the inn for a little while just until they were ready to move back.

I remember this one night like it was yesterday…it was the night before the Eve of the Carnival of Time. Kafei was at the inn playing with little Romani, trying to cheer her up. Then Tom came by and suggested we all go to the Milk Bar and have a few drinks. Cremia got upset and said she couldn't bare to be at the same bar her father had died trying to bring milk to. But Tom talked her into it, saying it would help if she drank away her problems and had fun for the night. Eventually she agreed, but only after Romani fell asleep. So in an attempt to get the little girl to fall asleep, Kafei read her one of Granny's stories about the Four Giants (not the whole thing, I assure you…Granny's books are so thick, Kafei wouldn't have gotten through it until the next night at least).

I went to my room to change. I got out a pretty but simple blue dress I had bought awhile back but never wore. I pulled it on and viewed myself in the mirror. Not only did the dress bring out my eyes, but it complimented my body as well, hugging the right spots. I brushed my hair and took two small strands, one on each side, twisted them, and pinned them back but left most of my hair down. I viewed myself in the mirror again. I thought I looked really nice, but I was hoping Kafei would notice.

When they finally got Romani to sleep, they called me downstairs. I saw Kafei take a good look at me and the dress, but my spirits faltered when he didn't comment. Tom whistled at me but then he started laughing like he was joking. Cremia said I looked pretty. So that meant everyone had noticed except the one person I had been trying to impress.

At the bar, I only drank one glass of milk. I didn't want to get drunk like Tom and Cremia were. Kafei was apparently thinking the same thing I was, as he only had one glass as well.

"Cremia, that's enough." I told her when she ordered a fourth glass. "If you don't stop now, you'll regret it in the morning." I warned her. I'd never had a hangover but I'd heard stories from my mother when she was back in her "rebellious teen days" and she told me they were anything but fun.

"Anju, why would I throw away a night of fun for worrying about tomorrow? Tomorrow's not here yet! I'll deal with tomorrow…tomorrow!" she said in a really slurred voice.

"That's right! Drink up!" Tom said, chugging his eighth glass.

Kafei shook his head then looked over in my direction. I could of sworn he had been staring at me through the night, but he didn't make any comments.

Kafei and I had to practically drag our friends out of the bar. We took Tom back to the Curiosity Shop, and his father was angry with him beyond words for not only getting himself drunk, but Cremia as well. The man also commented on how smart Kafei and I were not to have let Tom talk us into drinking as much as they had.

Once we had Tom settled, we walked Cremia back to the inn.

"Cremia, I told you you'd had enough after your third glass, but you didn't listen to me." I told her, causing her to laugh.

"Oh Anju, you're hardly any fun. You should just relax and let yourself go." She said in a slurred voice. Cremia then looked at Kafei, ran her fingers through his hair, then stumbled forward, almost falling flat on her face on the cobblestone. "Kafei, you're so…handsome. With your lovely violet locks and red, piercing eyes…and you're such a gentleman." She then looked at me. "I think I'm in love with him." She said. I felt a pit in my stomach. I wanted to get her away from Kafei, and fast, before she tried something.

"Cremia, you're wasted. Let's get you to bed." Kafei told her. She then looked back at him with lust-filled eyes. I watched nervously to see what would happen.

"Oh, Kafei…you're always looking out for us girls. You're such a sweetheart…" she suddenly grabbed Kafei's head, pulled it towards hers, and began aggressively kissing him. All I could do was stand there in shock and watch. She was kissing the one guy that had helped me get through my lonely childhood…the guy I'd been in love with for the past seven years. And she'd known I loved him. She knew since the first day we met and she'd been chasing after him ever since I introduced the two.

Kafei gently pulled her off of him then looked over at me. I had tears in my eyes and they were threatening to spill out at any minute.

"Cremia…how could you?" I shouted, darting away sobbing.

How could she do this to me?

XXX

I ended up a the Laundry Pool. It was kind of silly of me, because I knew that would probably be the first place Kafei checked if he came searching for me. But I didn't really care. All I knew was I had just watched my supposed "best friend" kiss him and he didn't completely freak out…he did peel her off of him, though…I wondered if it was just because he knew I was there. But if I hadn't been there, would he have kissed back?

"Anju," I heard Kafei whisper. So he _had_ come searching for me.

"Leave me alone, Kafei." I said with my head still down, not being able to look him in the eyes.

"No, Anju. I need to speak with you." He told me, seating himself next to me. There was a brief awkward silence. I guess he must have been at a loss for words. "Anju, what Cremia did was really insensitive. But she's just drunk. I'm sure she'll forget about it by morning."

"No Kafei, she won't." I murmured, remembering the first time I introduced the two and how Cremia always acted around Kafei. "She's wanted you ever since I introduced you two. I guess tonight she finally decided to make her move."

"Okay, but like I said, she's just drunk. Besides, it wouldn't make a difference whether she was drunk or sober. I'm not interested in her. I'm in love with somebody else." My heart briefly stopped at this. He was in love with someone else? Who? Did he have any female friends besides me and Cremia? How come I'd never met her before, even though we'd been friends for seven years?

"Congratulations, Kafei. I'm glad you found somebody." I told him, my voice breaking a bit. I just wanted him to be happy…he deserved happiness, even if that happiness didn't lie with me. "You deserve the best." I told him, genuinely meaning it even though it pained me to say it.

"She is the best." He responded. "She's the perfect girl for me." I could feel my heart breaking with every word he spoke. Who was this girl?

"I'm happy for you, Kafei. Really I am. Do I know her?" I asked. I wanted to figure out who she was. If Kafei was in love with someone else, I had to have seen her before…

"You could say that." He said, which confused me. It had been a yes or no question, and yet he'd failed to answer it with a yes or no. "She's smart, sweet, beautiful…everything I could ever hope for." Sounded like he was truly happy with this girl.

"She sounds perfect." I whispered.

"To me, she is. But no, she also has three flaws. For example, she's quick to apologize. Also, she can be very timid at times to the point that it's almost awkward. Not only that, but she isn't a very good cook, either." He said, a slight grin forming on his face. Quick to apologize, timid, not a very good cook…that sounded a lot like me. At this I finally looked up. He couldn't have possibly been talking about me, could he have been? "But you know what? I don't pay attention to those minor details. I look at her as a whole, and when I do, I see the girl…no, the woman that I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with." I felt tears fill my eyes again, but this time they were happy tears. Kafei caught one with his thumb as he stroked my cheek. "I love you, Anju. And no one else." At these words my previously broken heart suddenly felt whole again, this time more than it ever had…as if the pieces had been put back together and an empty void that had previously been there had now been filled. It's hard to explain, but I think it was one of the first symptoms of true love.

"Oh, Kafei…" I whispered, leaning closer to him. Kafei leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine. It was my first kiss, and nothing could have made it more perfect. After a few seconds, he pulled away and we spent a few minutes looking into each other's eyes.

"You looked beautiful tonight, by the way." He told me, causing me to smile. Looks like he did notice after all.

"I'm glad you noticed." I responded. We spent a few minutes staring into each other's eyes before Kafei spoke up.

"I would love to stay here with you the whole night, but I promised your mother I'd bring you straight home once I found you, and I don't want to further anger someone who already wants to rip me limb from limb and eat me for dinner." This caused me to burst out laughing.

"Okay, let's go back then. The next time I see you I want to see you with all your limbs attached, alive and well…not in a strange concoction my mother cooks up for us." I said, getting a laugh out of Kafei.

"I'm going to walk you home, and then I'll see you tomorrow." He said, kissing my forehead.

We walked back to the inn holding hands. He kissed me goodnight and went back to his house, which was literally just up the stone steps.

When I came downstairs from changing into my nightgown, I heard poor Cremia vomiting in the bathroom. I was angry with her at first for kissing Kafei, but soon realized that it was mainly the alcohol's fault. So I helped Cremia through her hangover that night and the next morning too.

By the next morning, she was apologizing profusely about kissing Kafei. She told me she'd always found him attractive and the milk made her act upon her thoughts.

She asked me what had happened when Kafei ran off after me. I told her the truth, and she seemed kind of bitter at first, but then she replied, "You're perfect for him, Anju. And he'd better treat you good, too, if he knows what's good for him." She said this with a slight smile. I guess that meant she accepted our relationship.

Sweet Kafei came to the inn around ten o'clock am. Cremia told him she knew everything and she was going to back off now that he and I were an official couple. She also said she felt that it was time for her and Romani to go back to the ranch because they'd been away from home long enough (not to mention one of their relatives had been tending to the animals daily since they'd left). I asked if they would just stay for the carnival fireworks but they just wanted to get back to the ranch.

Kafei decided he wanted to go check up on Tom. So we did, and of course he had a hangover, and of course his father was furious beyond words. He said Tom wasn't allowed to come and enjoy the carnival festivities.

Kafei then asked me to spend the day with him, which of course I immediately agreed to. I just wanted to go back to the inn, bathe, and change my clothes first. I decided on a yellow dress that ended a bit above my knees and I combed my hair back into a tight bun, just leaving the bangs down. When Kafei came back to the inn around noon, he commented on how lovely I looked, which I'm sure made me blush.

We enjoyed the day together enjoying the town's festivities and such. We didn't do anything we didn't usually do together besides an occasional kiss here and there.

At midnight, we watched the Clock Tower open and the fireworks from the steps of the Laundry Pool. After the fireworks stopped, I still didn't want the night with him to end, so I asked if we could just sit for a bit, which he agreed to (I knew he didn't want to go back home, either). I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Anju," he said quietly.

"Hmm?" I asked, almost ready to fall asleep.

"Did you ever hear about people who exchange Masks of the Sun and Moon and get married on the Carnival of Time?" my eyes snapped open at this.

"Yes. It's supposed to symbolize true love and ensure a long, lasting marriage." I said, picturing doing something that romantic with Kafei. I wondered if he'd ever go for it.

"Would you ever do that with me, then?" he asked. It was as if he'd read and answered my very thoughts.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" I asked with a bright smile.

"No rush. We can wait a year or two to see if we make a compatible couple, but yes. I'd love to marry you and exchange masks and vows on the Carnival of Time. How about you?"

"Oh, Kafei! How romantic, I'd love to!" I nearly shouted, hugging his arm. He smiled at this.

"Let's make a promise, then. One day we will get married on the Carnival of Time, and we shall exchange masks. I will make the Sun Mask and you will make the Moon Mask."

"I promise." I said with a big smile, which he immediately returned. He then leaned forward and kissed me. "That reminds me," I said suddenly, reaching into my bag. "This was my father's." I opened my hand to reveal an intricate pendant painted blue, silver and gold. The pendant was attached to a string. It was my father's. He'd given it to me before he died. I think he'd want Kafei to have it for basically being my guardian angel. "I want you to have it." He shook his head at this.

"No, Anju. I couldn't…"

"Please, Kafei. He'd want you to have it. You're my angel. It's like you were sent to me to make me happy after he passed away. It's yours." Kafei looked like he was trying not to tear up. Hesitantly, he accepted the pendant and put it around his neck.

"I love it. Thank you." He said as he examined the pendant. I smiled at this and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I love you." I whispered, truly meaning it with all my heart.

XXX

Three years went by. Kafei "officially" proposed to me on my nineteenth birthday, about a month and a half before the Carnival of Time. I had never been happier than now that I was engaged to the love of my life.

I remember like yesterday what had happened. Kafei had apparently went out to the Milk Bar about a month prior to our wedding to show off his wedding mask. Some witnesses from the bar claimed he'd gotten "hammered" (their word, not mine) that night and said he was going to go home. But he'd never returned home that night or the next morning. Madame Aroma surprised me by entering the inn that morning (she'd never stepped foot in the inn once…I actually heard she'd take great lengths to avoid going anywhere near it, including going the longest way possible to get to the Milk Bar as opposed to just going down the stairs to get to it in about a third of the time, simply because the bar was next door to our inn…but that was just a rumor I'd heard one of our customers gossiping about). She was wondering if Kafei had spent the night at the inn. I told her no and that I hadn't seen him since the previous morning. She was very concerned, as was I, of course.

She ended up having newspapers printed saying that he'd been missing about a day and if anyone had any information to contact her and she'd give a fair reward.

Two weeks passed, and no one had seen any sign of Kafei. I decided to go to the Laundry Pool that day, since that was our special place to get away. As I walked by these two women (who apparently didn't see me walking past them), they started saying that there was a rumor going around that Kafei was getting cold feet about our marriage and had run off. Another version of the rumor was that he'd run off with "that ranch girl", whom I knew immediately was Cremia.

Once I got to the Laundry Pool, the tears immediately began pouring down my cheeks. The last two times I'd cried there, Kafei had been there to comfort me. This time he wasn't, and there was only two weeks left until our wedding.

Before I'd thought that something had happened to him, but it was obvious to me now that he truly had left me.

A week and a half went by, and still no Kafei. At that point I was a huge mess. I kept getting all the reservations wrong and I was getting absolutely no sleep each night. My mother kept telling me to forget about Kafei, but of course I simply couldn't.

I kept reading the newspaper, but it was always the same story. He hadn't been found, but Madame Aroma hired an expert to find him and she'd given him a mask that resembled Kafei (or was _supposed _to resemble him, anyway…I didn't think it looked much like him except maybe the hair color) to inquire about Kafei's whereabouts.

On one fateful day, a new headline captured my interest. There was a sinister-looking moon looming over the town, and it was getting closer and closer. Some people were convinced it was going to crush the town. Mother made arrangements to have us take refuge at Romani's Ranch, where supposedly Kafei was staying, according to all the town gossip. Mother assured me that if Kafei was there, she'd give him a smack, though I'm sure she'd been dying to give him a smack long before he'd disappeared. This just would have been the perfect opportunity for her.

At noon, Mother went to run some errands around town and she asked me to feed Granny. I tried my best to cook her some soup, but she refused to eat it (and she called me Tortus again…poor Granny is confused more than ever now). Was I really that terrible of a cook? I brought the soup upstairs with me, planning on eating it until I realized that it was horrible enough that I supposed I wouldn't hold it against Granny for not eating it. So I ended up throwing it out.

When I went downstairs, a young boy in green clothes and a matching hat was sitting on the couch. He jumped up when he saw me appear from behind the reservation desk and he walked over. A white fairy fluttered by his side.

"Welcome to the Stock Pot Inn." I greeted him. I then gave him a quizzical look. He seemed too young to have made a reservation for himself, but then again, maybe he had a family he was picking up a room key for? Plus there was a guest meant to check in around this time. I think when I noticed a sword and shield on his back I gained some automatic respect for him. "Um…Did you…have a reservation?" I asked, breathing a sigh of relief when he nodded. "You do have a reservation? That's good." If I remembered correctly, the afternoon guest had been named "Link". "Mr. Link, is it?" I asked. The boy nodded. "One moment, please." I scanned the reservation book for the afternoon guest. I saw that I had "Mr. Link" written down for an afternoon arrival. "Mr. Link, I have you down for an afternoon arrival. Your room is our "Knife Chamber" on the second floor. Here is your key." I told him, reaching into the desk drawer and handing him the said key. The boy smiled and pocketed the key. "Please relax." I told him. The boy smiled and walked upstairs to his suite. I sighed and leaned back in the chair, almost dozing off.

My eyes immediately snapped back open when the little bell above the door rang. In jogged Victor the postman, one of the "witnesses" at the bar the night of Kafei's disappearance.

I stood up as he reached into his mail bag and handed me a letter. My heart skipped a beat when I read the front of the envelope. It read, "To: Anju, From: Kafei".

"Ah!" I gasped, covering my mouth with my hands. "Uh, uh, uh, umm, umm…" I wasn't sure what to say. "What is this?"

"I have delivered this to you!" the postman stated in a way as if he was almost mocking me for asking a dumb question.

"Ah! Wait!" I shouted. "This letter, wh-where did you?"

"From the postbox." He interrupted. I felt myself grow slightly agitated with him, but I managed to remain calm.

"Th-that's not what I mean! From the postbox where?" I asked, hoping to get something out of him. If he was mailing this to me, then that must mean that Kafei has to be in town or had been in town sometime this week since the postman never delivered to or from outside of town…unless of course Kafei had sent someone else to deliver the letter, but that doesn't sound like something Kafei would do…

…Of course, neither does running off before he's about to be married to me…

But I figured that maybe the location of the postbox the mailman had received this letter from might be a clue as to where Kafei might be hiding.

"From the postbox somewhere." The postman replied, making my hopes fade. I let out an annoyed groan.

"That's not what I mean!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air in exasperation. I took the letter and studied the words on front of the envelope. It was definitely Kafei's neat handwriting. So he was still alive, thank goodness. But where could he have possibly been the past month? "Please tell me!" I asked politely.

"It's a secret." The postman replied, jogging out the door.

"I must know!" I called helplessly after him. I clutched the letter to my chest and let a few tears escape my eyes. I felt a wide range of emotions at that point. Relief that he was alive, sadness as to why he'd been hiding from me, and both curiosity and fear of opening the letter. I was scared to open it because what if this was Kafei's way of breaking up with me? Would the letter say, "_Dear Anju, I've been hiding because I have cold feet about the wedding and this is my way of breaking it off with you. – Kafei_"? Or worse, would it say "_Dear Anju, I've been gone because I've run off with Cremia and now I don't want to marry you. –Kafei."_?

"Okay…" I whispered, sucking in a deep breath. I peeled the letter open and began to read, prepared for the worst.

"_Dearest Anju,_

_It's me, Kafei. I'm sorry for putting you through all of this, but simply try to understand. I can't see you right now. Something happened to me, but don't worry. I'm perfectly fine. Don't believe all the rumors going around town. I didn't run off with Cremia and I am not getting cold feet about the wedding. I actually want to marry you more than ever. I might not be able to see you for the next three days…something came up, I'm terribly sorry. But if all else fails, I swear to the four Guardians that I will be there on the Carnival of Time to exchange my mask and vows with you. Don't let your mother get to you and talk you out of anything. I swear I wouldn't miss our special day for the world._

_ Love always, _

_ Kafei_"

"Oh, Kafei…" my eyes began to fill with tears, but they were happy this time…I think? I still didn't understand why he was hiding, or what had happened to him. What could have possibly been so bad he had to disappear for a whole month? And to still be gone three days before our wedding ceremony? Despite all these questions that arose, for some strange reason, I felt almost certain about one thing: Kafei still loved me.

I pocketed the letter just as the boy in the green clothes came downstairs. I gasped when I saw the mask he was wearing…a mask that resembled Kafei's face that Madame Aroma had made herself and had given to certain people (myself included) to inquire about her missing son.

"You're also looking for Kafei?" I half-exclaimed and half-inquired. "I have a request!" I stated. The boy nodded. "Kafei…I have a clue…that will help you find him. Tonight at 11:30, please come to our kitchen. We'll talk then." I had made up a time that I was sure Mother would be fast asleep by. The boy nodded and exited with the mask still on, probably to inquire about Kafei to the townsfolk. I sighed and sat back down in the chair. I felt stressed about everything that had happened throughout the day. About ten minutes later, a Goron walked in. I apologized and told him we were booked with reservations. He claimed to have made a reservation under the name of "Link-Goro". After scanning the book for the name, I stated that there was a name similar to that, but not exactly the same. The Goron just said that it was nice weather so he would sleep outside. I apologized again before flipping through the book one more time to double-check, wondering if I had gotten yet another reservation mixed up.

I closed up the inn at 8:30 and went up to my bedroom. I began to write a response to Kafei's letter.

"_Dearest Kafei,_

_I have no idea where you are or what in Termina is going on with you, but I was so relieved to hear from you. I'm glad you're safe and that none of the rumors are true. There is a boy that helped me mail this letter to you. He is a young blond boy with blue eyes, a green hat, green clothes, and a fairy. If you see him, please trust him. If I get some sort of response from you through him, I shall wait for you in my room at the inn on the eve of the carnival. If not, then my mother is dragging Granny and me to take refuge at Cremia's ranch tomorrow night._

_I hope to get a response. _

_ Yours Truly, _

_ Anju_"

I put the letter in an envelope and put it under my pillow and laid down, leaving my clothes on. I stared at the ceiling waiting until my clock said 11:15. My original plan had been to mail the letter in the morning, then wait for the postman. I would have secretly followed him to see where he delivered the letter, and then find Kafei. But for one, I was never really good at being sneaky and two, I was scared as to what I'd find. What if Kafei had been gravely injured or something? What else could have possibly made him hide for so long? I felt that whatever it was, it must have been terrible and I probably didn't want to even know about it. That's where this mysterious young boy came in. Maybe he could help me with this.

At 11:15, I grabbed the letter, opened the door, and quietly tiptoed downstairs. When I arrived in the kitchen, Link was already waiting for me.

"I am sorry to trouble you late at night. It's about him…Kafei. I received a letter from…him." The boy appeared to be curious. I smiled sadly. "Strange…isn't it? Getting a letter from a missing person…" the boy gave me a quizzical look at this. "But there's absolutely no mistaking it's from him! It's clear…to me…" I said quickly, sensing the doubt the boy may have had. The boy nodded. "Please!" I practically begged. "Here is my letter. Please put it in a postbox. When this is delivered…when he receives my letter…you should be able to meet him!" I said, wondering what had become of Kafei… "Please tell him that Anju is waiting for him. And please, after you've seen him…Tell me how he looked." I was just hoping he was healthy and well. "I'm scared…I…I can't go. Can I ask this of you?" I was hoping I wasn't asking too much. But the boy smiled and nodded. "Thank you…very much." I told him, handing him my letter. "Please mail it immediately in the morning." The boy nodded and darted off to bed. I sighed in relief and made my way to my own bed, wondering if this whole Kafei ordeal would soon be over and in a mere three day's time, I would officially belong to him, and him to me…

…I think that was the best sleep I'd gotten in the past month. Of course I was still worried about whatever "situation" Kafei was in and wouldn't tell me about, but somehow, I had a strange intuition that everything would work out just fine.

XXX

The next day, as soon as I opened the inn at 8, I saw Link emerge from upstairs. We greeted each other with a smile and he darted out the door, holding my letter…it seemed he was going to mail it.

Unfortunately, I never got my response from Kafei. I waited all day for the boy to return, and he never did.

I felt my hope beginning to fade. Had the boy been successful in locating my fiancé? Or did Kafei just decide he didn't want me anymore?

At 8:30 PM, I closed the inn and dejectedly made my way up to bed. Mother came in at 9:30 to chat with me. She said we should leave the following night and take refuge. I reluctantly agreed to go, seeing as I had never received a response from my beloved Kafei.

The following night, we departed for Romani Ranch. Earthquakes shook the ground more and more frequently by the hour. I remember not getting any sleep at all that night. When there was some light in the sky, I peered out the window and watched in horror as the hideous moon crushed the town. Everything appeared to be ruined. All the buildings had been crushed and fire engulfed everything.

"Get down!" I remember hearing Cremia shout, grabbing me by the wrist and yanking me and Romani under the wooden table. Next thing I knew, there was a massive earthquake and the whole house was falling apart. Flame engulfed everything, even all the way to Romani Ranch.

"Let's get out!" Cremia shouted, dragging Romani. I went upstairs quickly to check on Granny and Mother.

"Are you two okay?" I shouted.

"Yes! Let's get out quickly." Mother said somewhat panicky, pushing Granny's wheelchair down the stairs.

We made it out the door just in time as the whole house collapsed in on itself.

We all stood there and cried together. Termina had been ruined and the ranch as well. We had all lost our homes that night.

When all the fires had been put out in Clock Town, without announcing where I was going, I grabbed one of the ranch's horses and made it run as fast as it could to Clock Town.

The first place I went to was the old location of the inn. It was damaged beyond recognition. None of our possessions had survived. My heart skipped a beat when I saw something that looked like a head of purple hair sticking out from under one of the boards. I jumped off the horse, ignoring the pain when I landed on my foot awkwardly, and I began to move the wooden boards out of the way, not caring if my hands were bleeding and my ankle was probably sprained.

"NOOO!" I screamed, letting tears fall freely. Laying there was the dead body of my fiancé, and I immediately knew what had happened to him to make him hide. Somehow he had been cursed and turned into a child. But there was no mistaking it was Kafei. It was the Kafei I had first met when my father had been dying. My angel Kafei…the one that had made my lonely childhood so happy.

I covered my mouth in shock when I realized what he was holding. The wedding mask he'd made for me…the Sun's Mask. It was battered, but it certainly looked like it had been beautiful. I brushed my hand over it and over Kafei's bloodied, cold hand, and I cried. I cried for what seemed like hours.

"Kafei…I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" I said repeatedly as I hugged his cold body.

All the residents who had died in Clock Town were put to rest about a week later. I laid the battered wedding ceremony mask at Kafei's grave, and said a prayer.

I never moved on, and I was never truly happy for the rest of my life. The void that Kafei had filled from the moment he'd first told me he loved me was now back and it burned worse than ever. Kafei…my guardian angel…I had failed him. He'd told me to wait for him in that letter but I hadn't. He'd returned to town with the mask just like he'd promised me, and he'd been crushed by the moon and had died alone clutching the wedding mask. He'd trusted me to trust him and wait for him, but I hadn't.

I'm sorry, Kafei, that I failed you. If only it were possible to turn back time…


	3. The Promise of the Sun and Moon

**Author's Note: This chapter is a switch-off between Anju's POV and Kafei's. This one ends happily, at the wedding scene at the end of the game. I originally was going to end the story here, but I fell in love with writing about these characters and decided to continue. So future chapters after this one will basically take a look at their marriage and personal lives.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Anju's POV

The next day, as soon as I opened the inn at 8, I saw Link emerge from upstairs. We greeted each other with a smile and he darted out the door, holding my letter…it seemed he was going to mail it.

In the afternoon, I made Granny some lunch, which she refused to eat yet again. Link finally returned around 5 pm.

"Oh…did you meet him?" I asked, fearing the answer. The deal was that if I got some sort of response from Kafei through the boy, then I'd wait for him…

…The boy said nothing. Instead, he reached into his pouch and pulled out an object that I immediately recognized.

"Ah! …It's from Kafei!" I gasped, covering my mouth in shock. It was my father's pendant that I'd given to Kafei three years ago. This was Kafei's response. This meant that he truly wanted me to wait for him, and I would. "Th…th…thank you… Very much!" I told Link, taking the pendant and stroking it with my hands. "I've decided to wait for him. I'm fine with this. I believe him." I informed Link. Link smiled, nodded, and ran off. When he exited, I let more happy tears spill out of my eyes. Maybe if everything went well, I'd be Mrs. Anju Dotour in two days after all.

XXX

Kafei's POV

I followed Sakon all the way to Ikana Canyon. I discovered that he keeps all his stolen goods hidden behind a huge rock door meant to blend in with the rocky wall. Sakon entered to put away the fifty rupees he'd made from the stolen bombs, then he pranced away with the same idiotic grin. I darted over to the large rock door and did everything I could to force it open, but it wouldn't budge. Figuring that I'd wait for Sakon to come back and open it, I sat down behind some large rocks and waited.

I jumped when I felt someone tap my shoulder, but when I turned around I realized it was the green-clothed kid.

"I found him, green hat boy…" I told him. "He's using this place as his safe house for keeping his stolen goods. Apparently, his name is Sakon. He came to the shop last night, and I followed him. His storage for the things he's stolen is on the other side of this rock door. Only Sakon can open it. The only way in is to wait for Sakon to arrive." I explained. The kid nodded and waited with me.

For the next two hours that we waited, all I could think about was Anju. I needed to get that mask so we could be wed tomorrow. I promised her I'd have it to greet her with…I couldn't fail. I had to do this.

_Everything's going to be fine, _I thought to myself, despite the now closer-than-ever distance between the moon and the town, plus the ominous, frequent earthquakes that shook the ground every ten minutes or so and seemed to be getting more frequent by the hour.

Sakon finally showed up at 6 pm. If I didn't have such huge hatred for the guy, then I might have actually laughed at the way the man pranced about. He opened the hideout and pranced in. I darted as quick as my small legs would allow, followed by the blond boy and his fairy.

The first room was littered with stolen goods, but not my wedding mask. So I proceeded into the next room. Sure enough, there it was…my precious mask, sitting atop a long platform thing.

"Ah! There's a mask there!" I heard the fairy shout.

"It's the Sun's Mask." I said with a grin, darting forward unthinkingly. I should have known at that point from prior experience that nothing is ever that simple…but my excitement had gotten the better of me, causing me to step on a blue floor switch. The switch made an alarm go off…and it caused the platform my mask was on to start moving. I realized at that point that the platform was actually a long conveyor belt, and it was dragging the mask towards a little hole at the end. And if it fell down that hole, we'd never get it back. So I did the one thing I always swore not to do in an emergency….I panicked. "Now I've done it!" I shouted, cursing under my breath.

I quickly darted over to the open door, which caused it to slam down in my face. Something immediately clicked in my head. The door had only opened when I stepped on the switch, and had closed when I stepped off.

"Step on that switch!" I shouted at the kid.

"What? Are you telling us what to do?" the fairy chimed in. I bit my tongue in an effort to avoid a retort. I knew the fairy didn't care for me much, but at that point I didn't care…there was no time to be arguing. I needed to get my mask before Sakon took it out of our reach.

"It's some setup where the door stays open only while the switch is pressed!" I explained quickly, hoping the boy would help me. I was pretty sure he would, since he'd gone through all the trouble of helping Anju and me get this far, and he was here with me now…obviously he was willing to help, right?

The boy immediately darted forward and jumped onto the switch, causing the door to open. I darted through it and took in my surroundings. "There should be some device in this room that also opens the door! Ohhh! The mask!" I screamed when I realized it was still moving towards the hole. "He's trying to pull it out of our reach and make his escape…we've got to hurry!" I shouted. I quickly looked around for a device that would open the door. There were a bunch of blocks circling something that I couldn't quite see…when I peered through the thin slit between two blocks, I saw another switch. So I pushed the block nearest to me. I heard the switch click and heard another door open, but it wasn't on my side.

"That's no good. This isn't the switch…" I mumbled, looking around. "Go check that room. There should be some sort of mechanism. Please! There's no time!" I shouted, realizing I was panicking again. I heard the fairy mumbling to the kid…all I heard was "don't like him" and then "let's go". As soon as she said that, the kid ran into the room on the opposite side of the conveyor belt. A deku baba popped out of the floor, which he killed instantly, thus opening the door on my side. I darted through the door and took in my surroundings again. The floor was scattered with tons of switches, some red, some yellow, and one blue. It was obvious I needed the blue one. I swiftly made my way to the blue one, trying not to step on any other colors…but accidentally pressed a yellow. I grimaced but soon breathed a sigh of relief when I heard the conveyor belt slow down. Yellow was good…I figured red would speed it up, so I avoided those and stepped on the blue, which caused the door on the kid's side to open.

This time two deku babas popped out. The kid also killed these easily, causing my door to open. I darted through and nearly shouted out in panic. There were blocks and switches everywhere. So I pushed the one in front of me forward, then I pulled the one to my right backwards so I could look for a blue switch. A yellow switch was to my left so I stepped on it, causing the conveyor belt to slow even more. I then pushed the block next to the yellow switch forward, revealing the blue switch to me. I dashed over and jumped on blue switch, causing the kid's door to open.

This time a Wolfos popped out of nowhere. This appeared to be the last room.

I watched anxiously from my side of the conveyor belt as the kid fought. The Wolfos howled in agony as it was run through by the kid's sword, causing the door on my side to open. I practically flung myself at the blue floor switch, causing the kid's door to open. He stepped on the blue switch opposite of mine, causing a thin, glass-like material to cover the hole just as the Sun's Mask was about to fall through. I grabbed it and clutched it protectively against my chest.

"I got the Sun's Mask back!" I exclaimed, feeling like there had been a huge weight lifted off my chest that had been pressing me for the past month. Sure, there was still the problem of me being in a child's body, but all that mattered at that point was me getting to Anju and giving her my mask.

"There's still time! I must get back to town!" the kid nodded and warped us out of the hideout with his ocarina.

I clutched the mask protectively and darted towards Clock Town. The moon was much closer at that point and the earthquakes were much more frequent and powerful than ever. I didn't want to die like this, and I sure as hell didn't want Anju to die like this…but if nothing could be done about it, we would die together at least after exchanging our masks and vows and becoming an official couple.

I finally made it to the East Gate and darted through.

The inn was in clear sight now.

I darted through the front door and up the stairs and into Anju's room. When I arrived, the green hat kid was already there, sitting on the bed opposite of Anju's. Anju was on the edge of her bed sobbing with her face in her hands, clutching the pendant. It broke my heart to see her like that. But as soon as she heard me approaching, her head snapped up she looked at me, her beautiful blue eyes glistening with tears.

XXX

Anju's POV

It took some time, but I had finally convinced my mother to go with Granny to the ranch without me. I assured her I'd be fine. But as I waited for Kafei in my room with what seemed to be my final hours as the moon drew ominously close and large earthquakes shook every ten seconds, I wasn't entirely sure if what I'd assured my mother of would end up being true.

At 3:30 am, I heard footsteps.

"Kafei?" I whispered as someone came through the door. But it was just Link and his fairy.

"Is he here?" I asked quietly, my voice hoarse. The frown on the boy's face was enough of an answer for me. I let my face fall into my hands and began to sob, the pendant dangling from my left hand.

About what seemed like an hour passed, and the door opened. I thought it had been Link leaving to take refuge, but when I looked up, I saw Kafei…but it wasn't the Kafei I was engaged to! It was the Kafei I met about ten years ago…

…I then realized what had happened. Somehow, he had been cursed and turned into a child. That must have been why he'd been hiding! It all made sense! He wasn't leaving me after all! I noticed that he was carrying the Sun's Mask. It was beautiful.

I walked over to the mannequin that had my wedding dress and bouquet of flowers, and I took the Moon's Mask off its face, and kneeled down to be eye-level with Kafei.

"I…I have met you before." I said, my voice still a bit hoarse. "What a familiar scent. Long, long ago…Yes. We were still young. We made a promise…Didn't we? The masks of the sun and moon…We were to exchange them on the day of the Carnival of Time." Kafei smiled sadly and put his arm out in front of him.

"Anju…I'm sorry I was late." He said.

"…Welcome home." Was all I could say. He then jumped into my arms, and I wrapped my arms around him. It felt so awkward with him being so much smaller than me, but after not seeing him or knowing what happened to him for so long and being here with him now was almost too much to bare, and I let a few tears slip…and I think Kafei did, too. I heard Link's fairy comment that we looked like mother and child, which caused me to smile. I bet we did look like a mother and child.

Kafei pulled away and smiled at me, his red eyes glistening happily.

"Let us exchange the promised masks." I told him. We then put the masks of the sun and moon together, and there was a bright light. When it died down, the two masks had created a beautiful white mask…the Couple's Mask.

"We have exchanged our oaths and have become a couple." Kafei explained, holding my hand in both of his.

"You are our witnesses. Please accept this mask." I told Link. Link smiled and took the Couple's Mask. "Please take refuge. We are fine here."

"We shall greet the morning…together." Kafei finished, smiling at me. Link nodded and darted off.

"I wonder where he's fleeing to." I told Kafei.

"Hopefully far from here. He can magically warp to places with his ocarina." Kafei said. A grim expression then crossed his face. "Do you think we should at least try to run?"

"I honestly don't see what good it'll do." I answered. "I mean, I don't _want_ to die, and I don't want you to die either, but even if we were to run now, I don't think we'll make it far en-" suddenly there was a massive earthquake that knocked both of us to the ground.

"Are you alright, Anju?" Kafei asked, struggling to regain his balance so he could help me up. The earthquake was still shaking.

"Yes." I gasped, peeking out the window. The moon was within inches of the clock tower now.

"This is it!" Kafei shouted, pulling me into his embrace and kissing me deeply. He covered my eyes by pulling my face towards his chest, as if he didn't want me to see the moon crash. As we waited to be crushed, the massive earthquake stopped. Everything was quiet. I almost wondered if we had died. Kafei loosened his grip on me, causing my head to snap up as I looked around. Everything appeared to be normal.

"What? No way!" Kafei shouted, peeking out the window. I did the same. My jaw dropped in amazement. Standing around the clock tower were the four mythical guardian giants, and they were each holding the moon up with all their strength, preventing it from crashing directly into the clock tower.

"Come on!" Kafei shouted, taking my hand in his and leading me towards the East Gate.

XXX

Kafei's POV

"Come on!' I shouted, taking Anju's hand in mine and leading her towards Termina field. Some light was now in the sky.

A huge group of townspeople were observing the sight of the four guardians…my parents were two of those people. Mother was drunk; I could tell.

"Kafei?" she screamed. I ran to her and she pulled me into a tight hug. "What in the world? You look like a little kid!"

"Long story, Mom." I told her, smiling.

"My son…" my father said, pulling me into a hug as well.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"The moon was about to fall, and we all ran out into the field in an attempt to outrun the moon…" my father explained.

"...Yes, and as we were running, we saw the kid I hired to find you run up into the clock tower. It seems he is the one who called the four guardians here!" Mother finished.

"Link!" Anju said, which I guess was the kid's name…oops, I've been calling him "green hat boy/kid" all this time…

"So now I suppose we just wait and see what happens, then?" I asked. Everyone nodded.

We watched and nothing happened for a long time. After about forty-five minutes, people began conversing quietly. Anju spoke.

"So Kafei, will you please tell me what exactly happened to you?" she asked. I looked over at my parents, who were both listening intently. I sighed.

"Okay," I said, starting from the very beginning. Every few sentences, my father would nod, my mother would gasp and cover her mouth, and Anju looked ready to cry.

"I wasn't hiding because of the way I looked." I clarified at the end of the story. "I hid because I lost the mask and I couldn't face you until I had the mask to greet you with so we could get married.

"Oh, Kafei!" Anju exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. Tears streamed down her cheeks. "I thought you had left me!" I gently peeled her off of me so I could stare up into her eyes…_up into her eyes._ What an awkward feeling. Normally I'd be looking down at her, tilting her chin up to look into my eyes.

"Anju, I could NEVER leave you. I vowed to love you forever, and I intend to stick to that vow. Besides, even if I had gotten cold feet abut the wedding, you should know me better than to run off and go into hiding because of it. I would have just told you." I felt myself becoming angry (with myself) for making her life so miserable the past month (and my mother's and father's lives as well, of course). "I love you, Anju. I always have, still do, and I always will. And no creepy kid, dumb thief, or even an ugly moon can change that. And speaking of that moon, if everything goes okay with it, we will be married before nightfall. I promise you that."

"Kafei…" she whispered, her eyes glittering with tears. I heard a few people say "Aw", but I didn't pay attention to them…I was lost in Anju's beautiful eyes…

As I went up on my toes to kiss her, how I longed for my adult body back so I could hold her again and be leaning down to kiss her instead of up…also, in this body, I felt so weak and small. In my adult body, I could protect her, and make her feel safe…

Right then, there was a loud boom. Everyone gasped and we watched as the moon evaporated into nothingness. The giants all seemed to sigh in relief. Townspeople cheered.

"It's over! The moon is gone!" Anju shouted excitedly.

"AHH!" I screamed, doubled over in pain. Everyone turned to stare at me.

"Kafei?" Anju shouted. I fell to the floor in pain. Every single muscle in my entire body was throbbing. Suddenly, my sleeves felt tight and not loose around my arms, my toes reached the ends of my shoes, and my shorts were now pants again. Then as soon as it had come, the pain was completely gone.

"Kafei!" Anju shouted, holding her hand out to me. "You're back to your normal size!" she said with a smile. I grinned and took her hand, but instead of letting her pull me up, I gently yanked her down so she fell on top of me, causing her to gasp in surprise. I then laughed and kissed her passionately, causing people to "whoo" and cheer.

"Kafei!" I heard a familiar voice shout. It was Tom, and he was emerging from Clock Town along with all the other shopkeepers and people who hadn't fled. "You're back, man!" he said. I finally got up and helped Anju up and gave Tom a high-five. "Wow, that moon's gone, eh?"

"Yes, and my curse is broken." I said, wrapping my arms around Anju and kissing the top of her head. It finally felt normal to hold her, as I was taller than her once again. "Hey Tom, thanks for everything." I told him. Tom nodded.

"I know you would've done the same for me." He said with a grin.

"Anju!" we heard a voice. It was Eleanor, and she was in a horse-drawn carriage with Anju's grandmother and Romani, and Cremia had the reigns.

"Oh, Mother!" Anju shouted, breaking out of my embrace and running to Eleanor. Eleanor gave me an evil glare.

"You! Just wh–?"

"Mother, I'll explain everything to you in a bit…" Anju said.

"Why are we just all standing here?" my mother shouted, causing everyone to look at her. "We've got a wedding to prepare for!" everyone smiled at this, except Eleanor, who still had no clue why I'd been missing the past month.

"Shall we get me dressed, Mother?" Anju asked.

"Yes…and I hope your explanation as to why he ran off and hid for the past month is a good one!" with that, she "hmph-ed" and led her daughter back through the East Gate, followed by Cremia and Romani. Anju turned and smiled at me, and I immediately returned it. We were getting married!

Just then, fireworks burst in the sky. Everyone cheered and went back into Clock Town to enjoy the festivities.

XXX

Anju's POV

"Do you understand now, Mother?" I asked as she tightened my corset on the dress. I had just explained to her why Kafei had run off.

"Yes." She said, tying the last lace. "I suppose his argument is valid. I still don't understand why he had to hide, though. He is the son of the mayor, after all. He could have returned home and had his father create some sort of set-up to have the town guards arrest that thief the instant he walked into town."

"Mother, he wanted to be able to greet me with the mask he'd worked so hard on so we wouldn't have to postpone the wedding. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to get it back or not, so he lingered behind Tom's shop waiting for the thief to come. Not only that, but it was a blow to his ego. In his adult form, he would have been able to catch up with the thief and get the mask back. He had been targeted because he appeared to be a weak little kid. I'm just glad he's safe now. And all that matters now is that he's here and we've already exchanged our masks and vows, and all that's left is the ceremony."

"And you say he risked his life by coming back to town to greet you with the mask?"

"Yes, Mother. And his hands were all bloody and he was bruised and everything. He had to travel to and from Ikana by foot. And when he returned, he was crying with me. I felt tears on my shoulder when I held him in my arms."

"I think it's sweet how he went into hiding just to get the mask back!" Cremia chimed in. "Most people would be more concerned with changing back to normal, but Kafei's main priority was to get that mask back. Eleanor, whether you are fond of the guy or not, you have to realize, he loves your daughter a lot." Mother bit her lip but didn't say anything.

"Cremia, are you going to do Anju's hair?" she changed the subject. Cremia popped up off the bed and pulled out a chair and put it in front of the mirror.

"Yes! Sit, Anju!" she said with an excited smile. "The dress looks amazing on you!" she commented.

"Thank you." I said, taking a seat so she could do my hair.

"People are already lining up at the fountains! Hurry, sister!" Romani shouted, looking out the window. "Kafei looks so handsome!" she said, giggling girlishly.

"Why don't you go out there and wait with everybody? We'll be out shortly." Cremia told her sister.

"Okay!" Romani shouted, darting out the door.

"I'll accompany her." My mother said, also exiting.

"Why must she be so bitter towards Kafei?" I asked, sighing.

"Because he did run off a month prior to today." Cremia answered, twisting different strands of my hair intricately and pinning them back.

"Well I know that, but even before…she's always been that way towards him. I understand she doesn't quite care for Madame, but that's hardly Kafei's fault…" I sighed.

"She'll lighten up towards him, I'm sure of it! Look what he did for you in the past few hours. If that doesn't convince your mother that he loves you, then I don't know what will!" when Cremia was done pinning my hair up, she began sticking flowers in it. After that, she moved onto my makeup.

"Yeah, and thank you for putting in a good word for him, by the way." I said, referring to what she'd said to Mother earlier about how sweet it was for Kafei to be more concerned about getting the mask back then about changing back to his former self.

"Of course." She said. "There, finished. Just let me pin your veil to your hair and then you'll be ready." She said, pinning the veil. "Okay, now look at yourself." I turned to the mirror. I hardly recognized myself. Cremia had put my hair in a really pretty up-do, and the yellow flowers she'd pinned in my hair had a stunning effect because of the color contrast of my dark red hair. The dress complemented my shape as well, and my makeup was subtle but really brought out the blue in my eyes.

"Cremia, I look…"

"…Beautiful." She finished. I smiled and hugged her.

"Thank you for everything!" I told her. She hugged back and handed me my bouquet.

"Ready to go get married?" she asked, looking out the window. I did the same. Kafei was standing there at the end of the lines of people. He wore a fancy white tunic embroidered in gold threading with white leggings and brown boots. He looked really nervous. Tom was telling a joke from the looks of it, because the people around him were laughing, but Kafei seemed to be not paying any attention. He kept pacing and breathing deeply. I smiled at the sight. I think I was as nervous as he was, but I was also excited.

"I'm ready." I told her with a smile. Cremia smiled and darted downstairs and outside to announce to everyone that I was coming.

XXX

Kafei's POV

Just a mere twelve hours ago, I was risking my life trying to get my precious wedding mask back to greet my darling Anju before the moon crushed and killed us all.

That was a nerve-wracking experience, for sure, but I don't think that level of nervousness even came close to the way I was feeling right now. I'm not quite sure what I was nervous about. Maybe I was nervous about how the ceremony would go…maybe Eleanor or my mother would object to the wedding, or maybe Anju would decide at the last minute that I hurt her too much the past month and she couldn't do it.

Or maybe I wasn't worried about the ceremony. Maybe I was more nervous about our relationship. I intended to stay with Anju until the day I die. But what if she fell out of love with me? I can't say I'd blame her…I always felt she was too kind and innocent to be with someone like me, and she especially didn't deserve to cry anymore. I intended on never making her cry again, but I was nervous about the marriage. Tom's father once told me that marriage can either strengthen a relationship or ruin it. In my parents' case, it ruined it. My father hated being married to my mother. She constantly nagged him about his mayoral duties and got drunk and gossiped every single day. Mother didn't like being married to him either because there had always been rumors flying around that he was cheating on her with the young, trampy receptionist. Their lives were miserable! But I'd heard stories that their love used to be like mine and Anju's. Would that be us in twenty years? Constantly fighting and wondering why the hell we married each other? I certainly hope not.

I heard Tom telling a joke to a few people, and they were all laughing. I wasn't paying any attention, though. I was just praying to the four guardians that if anything, marriage would strengthen the bond between Anju and me.

Just then, I was brought out of my thoughts when Eleanor approached me.

"Kafei, may I speak with you?" my heart nearly froze. What was she going to say? Was she going to try to talk me out of marrying her daughter? Maybe she'd tell me Anju was too good for me, which I already knew anyway? Would she smack me for making her daughter miserable, which I probably deserved? What was Eleanor going to do or say?

Apparently Tom was thinking the same things as I was, because he was staring at me with a look that seemed to say, "watch out!"

"Uhhh, sure…" I said, preparing myself for the worst. I looked and saw my mother far away, conversing with her lady friends. I prayed she wouldn't see Eleanor speaking to me then come over and start an argument at our wedding.

"Kafei, Anju told me everything." She said, her voice seeming pretty calm. "I understand why you took off and went into hiding, and I appreciate the fact that you risked your life to get the wedding mask back to Anju in the time of a crisis and not leaving her to die alone if the moon were to fall." Eleanor then sighed. "Kafei, it was never you I didn't like, it was…"

"My mother, I know." I interrupted. "You two had some drama in the past and you're both still bitter about it." Eleanor shook her head.

"Not even that." She said, causing me to stare in shock. "When we first met you and you introduced yourself as Aroma's and the mayor's son, the reason I became bitter was because I hadn't been aware that Aroma still lived in town. But I appreciated the fact you'd brought Anju flowers as condolences for the loss of my dear husband, so I figured that I could like you after all, despite your blood line." She said. "I didn't mind you being friends with Anju, but the closer you guys became as you grew older, I knew that eventually you guys would end up together. I was happy that Anju was happy, but I didn't want her to make the same mistake I did…I married Tortus when I was only 17, and I regretted it. Now I'll tell you, I loved my husband dearly, and I still miss him. But he and I were simply just not compatible. We argued all the time and both our lives were miserable. But we stuck through it because we did care about each other, we just married too young and the marriage had destroyed our relationship."

"I…I never knew that." I told her.

"Please don't tell Anju this…it'll make her cry. I'm telling you this because in a few minutes you will be my son-in-law. I want everything to be okay between us. But this is why I've been treating you bitterly. Since my husband passed, I've been even more bitter than I'd ever been my entire life. I regretted the fact he'd died unhappily in an unpleasant marriage with me. I felt that I'd ruined his chance at happiness. But one good thing did come out of our marriage…Anju." I nodded, agreeing that Anju was a good thing indeed. "He loved her dearly, Kafei. Every time I thought of leaving my husband, I saw how good he was to Anju, and I couldn't bring myself to do it. When Anju came home three years ago from the Carnival of Time, she told me you said you wanted to marry her. This worried me. I knew you guys would get married young just like I did, and I feared that her life would become miserable, just like mine. I wasn't sure if your guys' love was true, because you were just so young…but I can see now that she loves you with all her heart and that you feel the same way she does. I did use your disappearance as an excuse to try to make her change her mind, but now that I know the whole story, I will gladly step away and let you guys marry. But you'd BETTER treat her good, you hear me?" she said in a stern voice, but her expression seemed soft. I smiled and nodded.

"Of course I will. And thank you for speaking with me." Eleanor nodded. Just then Cremia ran out.

"Anju's coming!" she said, placing herself next to Viscen, the captain of the town guards. I took a quick mental note of who had showed up. The town guards, some of the carpenters, Tingle (who invited him, anyway?), my parents, Anju's family, Cremia, Romani, and Tom.

Just then my breath stopped when Anju stepped out. She was like a goddess. She wore a beautiful white dress. The top portion of the dress was laced and had a long collar that covered each side of her neck…on her neck she wore beautiful, large pink beads and matching earrings. The sleeves of the dress were long and there were holes at the shoulders. The bottom portion of her dress looked like flower petals, the way it curved and fanned out. She had her hair pinned back in a bun with yellow flowers on each side. A long veil was pinned to the bun and she carried a beautiful bouquet of flowers. We both smiled brightly as she walked down the pathway to me. On the way, she handed her bouquet to Cremia and placed her hands in mine. The priest began his speech. Anju and I were lost in each other's eyes. We said our I do's, placed rings on each other's fingers, and kissed when told to do so. Everybody cheered, Tingle happily threw confetti down on us, and Tom whistled. As we continued to kiss, we both wore huge smiles…we couldn't stop smiling!

After the ceremony, we went about town enjoying the festivities. Then our horse-drawn carriage arrived at 3:30 pm, and we got in and made our way to our one-week honeymoon in Great Bay.


	4. Doubts

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XXX

Anju's POV

We had rented a little house at Great Bay for our honeymoon. When we arrived, I went into the bathroom to change out of my wedding gown. It took me about ten minutes to take off all my makeup and take my hair out of the hundreds of pins Cremia had placed in it. I stepped into a very lovely silk nightgown. It was cream colored, and it almost matched the color of my skin. It clung to the right parts of my body…I wanted to look nice for Kafei, but I was nervous. When I thought I looked all right, I finally stepped out.

Kafei was already waiting on the bed, still partially dressed. I watched his expression as he eyed me in the gown.

"Do you…like it?" I said quietly. He smiled.

"Yes. You look beautiful." I smiled and practically jumped on the bed. He laughed and we kissed passionately. After about a minute he pulled away. "You're trembling." He said quietly. I looked down at my hands. He was right. I was trembling. "Anju, Love…we don't have to do this tonight." He said, pushing a strand of red hair behind my ear.

"Yes, I'm a little nervous…but I want you to make love to me, Kafei. It's our wedding night. It's the perfect moment." I said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I'm not going to pressure you into anything…"

"Kafei, we've been together for three years already. You never pressured me once. I'm ready." I said. Kafei nodded.

"Okay." He whispered, kissing me passionately once more.

XXX

Kafei's POV

That was the first night we made love. It was more magical than I'd ever thought it would be. It was truly a great feeling for both of us, not only in a physical sense, but in an emotional sense as well. I never felt closer to Anju than I did after that night.

The next morning, I opened my eyes and smiled to see Anju was lying right next to me. Her breathing was quiet and slow. She looked so peaceful. I put my arm around her and just watched her sleep for several minutes. Finally, her eyes fluttered open. She smiled up at me and we just laid there staring into each other's eyes for a few minutes with small smiles. I was the first to break the silence.

"Good morning, Love." I said.

"Good morning." She said, giggling. I smiled at this. This was so much better than seeing her heart-broken and crying. I never wanted to see her like that again, especially if it was because of me again. "Kafei?" she asked.

"Hmm?" I asked, pushing a strand of hair out of her face.

"Can we go to the shore later on?"

"Of course." I said, leaning forward to kiss her neck.

"I've never been in the water before…" she said, her smile suddenly fading.

"It's okay…you know I won't let you drown." I told her. "Besides, we don't have to go too deep." She smiled and nodded.

After we ate breakfast (which I cooked – not Anju), we went to the shore. We swam for about thirty minutes, Anju gradually going deeper and deeper into the water until she was comfortable with it being up to her chest. Then we just sat on a blanket in the sand, listening to the waves and staring into each other's eyes, as we did quite often.

"Kafei…" she whispered.

"Yes, Anju?" I asked, interlacing my fingers with hers.

"I know it's kind of soon, but have you thought about having children?" actually, I hadn't given much thought to it, but when she said that, it made me prop myself up on my elbow in surprise.

"What?" I asked. Her smile faded and she let go of my hand and sat up. She crossed her arms around her legs and stared at the ocean. I continued to stare at her. She looked sad.

"Never mind…it's too soon to speak of such things. Pretend that I never said anything." She said dejectedly.

"Anju, no…it's not that I don't want kids…I do! It's just…your question took me by surprise, is all. Honest." I assured her. She then redirected her gaze towards me.

"When we were only sixteen, you told me you intended on marrying me. We were engaged for six months, and we just got married yesterday. And throughout all that time, the thought of children hadn't passed your mind once?" she inquired.

"Actually, yes it has…but I usually dismissed the thought from my head. Not that I don't want kids, I'd love to have a few with you…but just not now. We're still young….we've got the rest of our lives to have children, Anju. Why rush into it?"

"I'm not suggesting that we rush into it. I'm just saying, well…now that we've taken our relationship to the…_physical _level…anything can happen. If I get pregnant unexpectedly, you have to be prepared for it. You have to be willing to step up."

"Anju, look at me." I told her, gently tilting her face towards mine. "I am perfectly aware of the possible consequences of sex. If I could choose, I'd choose not to have a baby at this moment…maybe in a year or two…but if you do somehow become pregnant before that, that's fine! I'll be prepared for it! I'd love to have a baby with you, Anju! I didn't put our lives at risk to make sure we married just to back out if you were to by chance become pregnant!" I assured her. She smiled.

"I just…we never discussed kids before. And I came to the conclusion after we made love last night that now that we're married, we should be prepared in case it does happen."

"And we will be." I told her, taking her hand in mine. "I'm just letting you know though that we won't actually start _trying _to get pregnant until at least a year from now…"

"I can agree to that." She told me. I smiled and kissed her.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." She said, smiling.

XXX

"Welcome to the Stock Pot In – oh, it's you, Mother." I said. We'd been back for two months, and upon returning, I now had the morning shift of the Stock Pot Inn. Anju was at the ranch helping Cremia with something they wouldn't tell me much about, so I had two shifts – from 8 am to 8:30 pm. Anju was to come back tomorrow. After my shift was over, I intended on going to see Tom.

"Yes…hello, Kafei." Mother said. She walked daintily over to the couch and sat down.

"Let me guess…you need to speak with me about something." I said. Mother nodded.

"Yes, Kafei." For once she wasn't drunk, but I was sure that would all change once the Milk Bar opened at 8 tonight. She hesitated, then began to wring her hands…a sure sign she was nervous about something. "Kafei, I have to ask you…how much longer do you plan on working at the inn?"

Oh God.

I see where this is going.

"What does it matter, Mother?" I asked, sighing and rubbing my temples.

"Well, how much longer?" she demanded, growing impatient.

"For forever." I told her, causing her jaw to drop.

"What?" she practically shrieked.

"For forever." I repeated, narrowing my eyes. "Unless, that is, we feel so agitated by annoying parents…or _mother_ in this case, that we feel the need to move the hell out of Clock Town!" I threatened. It may have sounded harsh, but "harsh" was the only way things could register in Aroma's head. She gasped and dramatically put her hand over her mouth. "Enough with the dramatics, Mother. If you need to tell me something, get on with it. If not, then please just go. I feel a migraine coming on." I mentally added that the migraine hadn't been coming on before she had arrived.

"Kafei…" she started. "Your father retires in six months. Since you were born, we planned to have you become mayor upon your father's retirement!"

"I don't want to be mayor." I told her. "I never did. It's too much of a responsibility for me." The real reason I didn't want to become mayor is because of how irritable and tired my father always was…he never had time to spend with me, either. I didn't want to be like that. The Stock Pot Inn, on the other hand, wasn't too hard of a job at all. We rarely get any customers…Anju said there'd be tons during the Carnival of Time in ten months, though…but that was only once a year. I intended on spending the rest of my life with Anju, and I didn't want to be irritable around her and never spend any time with her or any children we might have together. I intended on raising my children differently than my father had raised me. Sure, I turned out all right, but that was mainly because since a young age, I could feel the thick tension between my parents and never wanted to grow up to live like them, and I swore to myself to be as different from them as I possibly could. I was doing a pretty good job so far.

"So what then, Kafei? You want to live the rest of your life as a…a…an innkeeper?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that." I replied in a bored tone of a voice, leaning back in the chair and rubbing my temples again. I really wished she'd leave.

She stood up and pranced over to the desk, slamming her hands down on it.

"No son of mine is going to live the rest of his life making low wages being an innkeeper! Do you honestly think I want my only son and grandchildren to be middle to low-class commoners?"

"Mother, you care about the stupidest things." I told her, closing my eyes. God, my head hurt…and it had been perfectly fine just before she arrived. I was starting to notice how my father constantly felt.

"I knew it! This girl's corrupted you!" she said, shaking her head. "I told you from the start not to marry her, and now she's ruined your whole future!" that was the last straw. How dare she insult MY Anju!

This time, I stood up and slammed _my _fists on the desk.

"Damn it, Mother! How dare you insult Anju! How dare you!" I screamed, causing her to back away and stare up at me in shock. I'd never raised my voice at her in my life. Sure, I'd said harsh things, but I'd never yelled like this. "I love that woman more than anything! She means the world to me! And you're coming over here telling me you regret my decision to marry her because I won't do something as stupid as becoming the next mayor? You're even more shallow than I thought, Aroma!" I shouted. She cupped her hand over her mouth dramatically again.

Wow, I just called my mother by her first name…another first.

"Now Kafei…you know I just want the best for my only son…"

"And he already has it – Anju. So leave him alone now." I told her.

"But…"

"He asked you to leave!" said a voice. Eleanor appeared from the hallway. "And I'd appreciate it if you got out of here as well!" Mother "hmph-ed" and stormed off, muttering under her breath. I sighed and plopped back into the chair and began to rub my temples again.

"So sorry." I muttered. Eleanor gave a small smile.

"Wow, Kafei…I heard everything." I looked up at her. "I always thought you would turn out like your parents, but you're the complete opposite…and the way you stuck up against Aroma for Anju…I thought that was very sweet." I was taken aback by this.

"Wow, thank you." I said, surprised at how much my relationship with my new mother-in-law had changed. Eleanor smiled.

"Just do me a favor and try to keep that woman out of the inn." With that, she walked off.

"Oh, believe me…I'll try my hardest to." I muttered, dozing off in the chair.

XXX

I eventually woke up from my little nap. It was around 10 o'clock pm, and I felt too out of it to visit Tom, anyway. So I locked the inn up and headed upstairs to bed.

I woke up some time in the early morning to someone touching my hair. I snapped up in shock, but it was just Anju.

"Sorry…I didn't mean to wake you." She whispered, still stroking my hair.

"Never mind that, Honey…when did you get back?" I whispered. It was still dark out.

"Just a few minutes ago. I wasn't feeling too well at Cremia's so she brought me back home." Anju peeled the sheets back and slid into bed next to me, putting her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, I just felt a little nauseous…it's probably nothing." She whispered.

"Well if you still feel that way tomorrow, try to get some rest." I told her.

"Okay…" she murmured, yawning and falling asleep rather quickly.

"Goodnight, Anju." I whispered, falling asleep as well.

XXX

Anju's POV

I was surprised to see that Kafei was still fast asleep when I woke up. Normally, he was up before me cooking breakfast. I figured he was tired from having to watch the inn the past couple days, seeing as I was out of town. I decided to let him sleep in and I'd take his shift. I gently kissed him on the cheek and silently slipped out of bed. I grabbed a random dress from the drawer, quietly changed into it, and exited our room to open the inn.

Around 9 am, I felt really light-headed, so I decided to try and eat something. I looked through some of Mother's old cookbooks and found a very simple recipe for soup. I tried to make it without help because I didn't want to wake Kafei up so he could get some sleep. When it was done, I took a couple of bites. It didn't taste all that horrible, so I continued to eat. When I ate it all, I poured another bowl and began to devour this one as well. But half way through, I felt nauseated, so I decided to stop.

Around 9:45, as I was checking the reservation book, I felt the need to vomit. I quickly darted through the hallway and into the bathroom. Sure enough, there went my breakfast.

"What's wrong with me?" I whispered when I was done.

"Anju?" I heard Kafei call. He was walking down the stairs. "Hey, why didn't you wake me u…?" his voice trailed off when he saw me kneeling by the toilet. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I assured him. "Just a little sick."

"Well what are you doing up? Go lay down so you can get better. I told you last night to rest, remember?" he asked me.

"I know, Kafei. But you just seemed so tired that I decided I'd take your shift. I figured you were tired from having to watch the inn the past couple days." I told him. He shook his head.

"I'm fine. You, however, need to get some rest. Come on, Anju." He told me, reaching for my hand. I put my hand in his and let him lead me upstairs.

Once I rinsed my mouth out with water, he pulled the blankets over me and kissed my forehead.

"Get better, Darling." He said. I nodded and closed my eyes, letting myself drift off into sleep.

XXX

I didn't wake up again until 5:00 pm. I felt a lot better, though.

Kafei was in the chair behind the desk, looking ready to doze off any minute. His face lit up when he saw me, however.

"Feeling better?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yes, thanks to my darling Kafei." I told him, hugging him. He kissed my cheek.

"Good." He said, rubbing his eyes.

"Kafei, you can go upstairs now and rest. I'll take your shift." He shook his head.

"No, I want you to try and rest a little bit more, just to make sure whatever virus you had goes away. It's only three and a half more hours, anyway."

"Oh, Kafei…" I told him. "You're sweet, but really…you have major bags under your eyes. Please rest, honey." I said, squeezing his hand gently.

"I'll just go to bed when the inn closes, okay?" he said. I nodded and went to eat something (my stomach was growling). Thankfully, Kafei had set out some dinner. I ate it and thankfully, didn't vomit.

XXX

Kafei's POV

"Hey, Kafei! Long time no see! What's up, man?" Tom shouted as I entered the Curiosity Shop. I gave him a half-hearted smile.

"Hey." I said, taking a seat across the counter. His smile faded.

"I've known you for ten years…there's nothing you can hide from me, so spill. What's wrong?" I sighed.

"There's something wrong with Anju." I said. Tom raised his eyebrow at this.

"How so?"

"She's been throwing up every morning for the past two and a half weeks!" I said. "I've been having to cover her shifts at the Stock Pot Inn, and I've been getting no sleep! I'm just so worried!"

"You do look really tired." He commented. "Well, you say she throws up in the morning? How about any other time of the day?"

"No, usually it's just in the morning…" my voice trailed off when I saw Tom's expression. "Oh no…no, Anju is not pregnant!" I shouted before he could say anything.

"Are you sure, Kafei?"

"Yes!" I shouted, and then sighed. "No…"

"What if she is?"

"I don't know, Tom…I'm not ready to be a father." I said, sighing and banging my head on the counter.

"Well Kafei, you should have taken that into consideration before you got married." He said, giving me an odd look.

"It's not that I don't want kids…I just feel like I still am a kid!" I said. "Anju and I had this talk during our honeymoon…I said we wouldn't try to get pregnant until a year from now…"

"Kafei, it doesn't have to be the couple's intent to get pregnant, things just happen…"

"I know…but I wouldn't know the first thing about raising a kid! My father was never there for me! He was always too busy being the mayor. And all Mother cared about was gossip and Chateau Romani. I just don't want to raise my children the way I was raised…"

"Kafei, you need to discuss this with Anju." He told me. "If she is pregnant, you're just going to have to find a way to deal with it. Don't worry about being a bad father, I'm sure you'll do just fine. There's no special secret code on raising children. If you feel you weren't raised well, then raise the child the way you wanted to be raised. I guarantee your kids will love you! Look at Romani! She adores you!" I smiled.

"Thanks, Tom." I said. Just then a customer walked in. A customer I immediately recognized. "You!" I shouted, standing up. "Do you remember me, asshole? I was cursed and turned into a child and you stole my wedding mask!" I shouted. Sakon stared in shock, then turned and pranced out of the shop. I went to go follow him.

"Kafei! Just let him go!" Tom shouted.

"That bastard made me go into hiding for a month! He's the reason Anju was so miserable! It's his fault her heart was broken and she almost died getting crushed under the moon! Now that I'm back to my normal size, I'm gonna go kick his pathetic ass!" before Tom could respond, I darted out of the shop.

**Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long since my last update…I just got caught up in the usual holdups: school, extracurricular activities, etc…**

**Anyway, I don't know about you guys, but if I were Kafei, I'd really love to kick Sakon's ass after getting my normal body back…Sakon deserves it. **

**Anyway, I did mention before that the rest of the story would focus on Anju and Kafei post-marriage but the main plot hasn't even BEGUN to unfold yet…I can guarantee everyone will be in for a major surprise thanks to a major twist…**

**Remember to review, and thanks to everyone who's been following the story so far! I really appreciate it!  
**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo**


	5. Stress, Pressure, Worry, And More Stress

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, or places affiliated with Nintendo.**

Anju's POV

"Are you sure?" Cremia asked me.

"Yes." I told her, staring at myself in the mirror in side-profile. I was trying to picture how my stomach might look in a few months' time. "How do I tell Kafei?" I wondered aloud.

"He's your husband and he loves you. Whether or not he's ready for a child, he'll step up to the plate. Just wait and see, Anju. Plenty of married couples get pregnant before they expect. And with a love as strong as the one you two have, there's no way something like this could ruin it. Actually I think this will strengthen the bond between you two…you'll see!"

"Thanks, Cremia." I said, hugging her. "Are you and Romani staying in Clock Town for tonight?"

"If it's alright." She replied.

"Okay. Just let me prepare the beds in the Knife Chamber for you two."

"Thanks…speaking of Romani, why isn't she back yet? Oh my gosh, it's really late!" Cremia realized, staring at the clock. It was 10:15.

Coincidentally, Romani and little Jim from the Bombers gang burst through the door right after Cremia said that.

"Romani, there you are! You were supposed to be in bed two hours ago! It's 10:15!' Cremia shouted, pointing at the clock on the wall to emphasize her point.

"But, Sister! Kafei got in a fight!" Romani shouted, causing my heart to momentarily stop.

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah. Apparently Kafei was at the Curiosity Shop, then this bald grinning man pranced in, and then Kafei chased him all the way to the front of the East Gate by the canyon and they started fighting." Jim said.

"The guards chased them to break it up, then they made me and Jim and everyone else who was watching get back inside the town walls!" Romani finished. Cremia and I looked at each other.

"Sakon!" we shouted simultaneously.

"Thanks, you two. Romani, go get ready for bed and Jim, you should go home. Your mother's probably worried sick about you!" Cremia told them.

"Yes, Miss Cremia. Bye, Romani!" said Jim, exiting.

"Bye Jim!" Romani shouted back, running upstairs.

"You know, I was kind of hoping that low-life thief would show up again so Kafei could teach him a lesson! What's wrong?" Cremia asked when she saw my expression.

"He got in a fight! What if he's hurt?" at this, Cremia laughed out loud, causing me to glare.

"Oh, Anju…playing the role of the concerned wife, are you? Kafei's fine. I could see if he was in his brat body again, but he's back to his original size now, and he can take care of himself. I bet he did that creep in good!" Cremia shouted.

"He can't just be getting in fights, though, Cremia…especially when he's about to be a father…"

"Anju…how do most women deal with people they don't like? They gossip about them."

"I don't gossip." I pointed out.

"Okay…_most _women gossip about those they dislike. That's how we express ourselves. Men…they like to get in fistfights. That's how they express themselves."

"Cremia, Kafei's usually not like that…and like I said, he needs to grow up a bit once this baby's born."

"Well I think it's sweet he chased the guy. Like you said, it's unlike him to get in a physical fight with somebody. He must really love you, Anju…which is exactly why everything will work out just fine when you tell him about the baby." She smiled, which I returned half-heartedly. "I'm going to check on Romani…" she said while going upstairs, pausing to gently pat my stomach, as if trying to comfort the baby slowly growing inside. I looked down at my still-flat stomach, trying to wonder how Kafei would react to the fact that I'm pregnant and if tonight was the right night to tell him.

XXX

Kafei's POV

I followed Sakon almost all the way to the canyon, just a few yards outside the East Gate. Finally I caught up with him. I grabbed his shoulder roughly and turned him to face me.

"You may have been able to outrun me in my cursed form, but you don't stand a chance against me in this form!" I shouted, punching him in the nose. I was strangely satisfied when I heard a sickening crunching sound, meaning I had broken his nose. Sakon cried out in pain and fell to the floor, dropping his sack. "Who did you steal from this time, huh?" I asked, kicking the sack over, causing the contents to spill out on the floor. There were jars and jars of Romani milk. This angered me beyond words. Now he was stealing from Cremia too? So he stole from the elderly, children, and now women.

"Piece of shit." I spat, kicking him in the ribs. Sakon yelled in pain. I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to his feet, drawing my fist back in preparation to punch again. I observed that his nose was bleeding everywhere.

"Listen asshole, where exactly did you get that milk?"

"F-from the Gorman b-brothers!" he stuttered.

"The Gormans?" I repeated.

"Y-yes! They waited for the ranch girls to get out of t-town, then they s-snuck into the r-ranch and there was a whole stash of m-m-milk bottles in their b-barn. I w-watched them haul all the milk b-b-back to their r-race-t-t-track, then when they weren't looking, I s-stole it all!"

"And you came to the Curiosity Shop hoping to make a quick rupee off of it!" I finished. "Are you aware that you're wanted in Clock Town for stealing from the mayor's son…me?" his eyes widened at this.

"Y-you're the mayor's son?" he asked. I smiled.

"Yep…you messed with the wrong person in my case. And I assure you, even if you weren't currently wanted, Tom wouldn't have bought that milk off of you without reporting you. He and the ranch owner are good friends." I mentally tried to picture the two as a couple…it was obvious they both liked each other since Anju and I first started dating.

"I'm…I'm so sorry, sir! Please let me go! I'll never show my face in Clock Town again…I swear!" he pleaded. I laughed at this.

"Now why would I do a moronic thing like that? You don't deserve mercy, Sakon. You're dirt. No, you're _lower _than dirt. You steal from children, the elderly, and even women. That's just pathetic. You're insane if you think I'm gonna just let you off that easily."

"What's going on?" I heard a voice. Still holding onto Sakon's shirt, I turned my head to see who it was. It was Captain Viscen and some of his guards along with a few bystanders, which included Romani, Jim from the modern Bombers, and Tom. Apparently Tom notified the town guards about Sakon. I gave him an appreciative smile, which he immediately returned. But suddenly his smile faded.

"Kafei!" he shouted, pointing. I turned just in time to see Sakon's foot connect with my lower lip.

"Agh!" I shouted, followed by a curse. I felt my lip for blood (which there was), but the instant I let go, Sakon began to prance away…quickly for once. I heard Viscen order the bystanders to go back into town, and then he ordered the guards to follow Sakon. They trailed behind me and I was right on the thief's heels.

Sakon got to this area with tall iron fences, which I remembered all-too-well. It was really painful climbing them, especially in a kid's body and being in a rush.

Just as Sakon began to climb it, I wrapped my arms around his chest and threw all my weight back, causing us both to fall backwards onto the floor. I flipped around so he was under me and I gave him a good punch in his lip to match mine. That was when the guards caught up.

"Arrest him. That's the thief that my father had wanted posters printed for." I told Viscen.

"Yes sir!" Viscen replied, saluting me. I stepped off of Sakon and let the guards tie his hands behind his back.

"Come along, you." One of the guards said to Sakon, pulling him away roughly.

"Curse you, Dotour! I'll remember this!" Sakon shouted as he was led away. I continued to glare at him until he was out of sight. I then turned to the remaining two guards.

"That thief was bringing stolen Romani milk into town. He claims he got it from the Gorman brothers who live near Romani Ranch. Can you guys look into that? I'll take the milk back to the ranch owner. I assume she's at the inn right now with my wife." I said.

"Yes sir, we'll look into it!" said one guard.

"Yes we will, sir!" said the other, saluting me.

"Is your lip alright, sir?" the first one asked. I touched my finger to my lip. It was busted, but I would be all right.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you." I told him. The two nodded and walked off.

I walked back to the East Gate, picking up the milk jars and putting them back in the sack. Only one bottle was broken. I slung the sack over my shoulder and entered town.

As soon as I walked back through the East Gate, I was bombarded by townspeople.

"Kafei, what happened?

"Kafei, are you alright?"

"Kafei, did they catch that thief?"

"Kafei!" Tom shouted, running up to me. "I notified the guards about Sakon. Did they catch him?"

"Yep." I said, smiling. "Thanks man. Excuse me." I told the townspeople, pushing past them and ignoring their questions. If I answered them, they'd change the story around for gossip's sake by morning, anyway.

I entered the Stock Pot Inn at 10:25. I sighed and put the heavy sack on the couch by the reservation desk. Just then, Anju came running downstairs and into my arms.

"Oh, Kafei! I heard!" she shouted, tears in her eyes. I hugged her back. She then pulled away and stared at my lip. "Oh…your lip." She whispered, the worry evident on her perfect face.

"It's nothing." I assured her.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I told her.

"Good…" the worry then faded and was instantly replaced by anger. "What's wrong with you?" she shouted. This caused me to step back in surprise.

"What?" I asked. This wasn't quite the reaction I'd expected.

"Kafei! You can't just be picking fights, especially with such a notorious thief! He could have had a knife on him!" she shouted, the tears returning to her eyes.

"…" I wasn't sure what to say. She may have been right, but I had wanted her to be happy that I'd helped catch Sakon. "Anju, it was his fault I went into hiding for so long! He was the cause of our pain! And something good came out of it…I helped him get arrested! I thought you'd be happy or relieved or something!" I told her.

"They arrested him?" she asked.

"Yes." I replied. "Aren't you happy…or relieved at least?" she sighed.

"I'm relieved that he's been detained and you're all right…but that doesn't make me happy. You can't just be picking fights with such dangerous people!" realizing that no matter what I said, she'd still find a way to make what I did sound almost completely negative.

I groaned and went into the washroom to clean my bloody lip. Anju followed.

"Kafei…I know you're normally not like this. What possessed you to attack him?"

"I told you, Anju!" I snapped. Once my lip was clean, I turned to face her. "He stole the Sun's Mask. Yes, I got it back in the end, but it was such a blow to my ego because I knew that in this form, I would have been able to defend myself. And now that I'm back in this form, I needed to pay him back for what he did…I guess…" I then went downstairs and into the kitchen. I opened up the liquor cabinet and poured myself a glass of Chateau Romani. I don't know why, but the drink had been calling out to me. I silently prayed that I wasn't turning into my mother. Anju looked a little surprised as she watched me chug glass after glass.

"You're drinking now?" she asked.

"Why are you getting upset?" I asked, pouring myself a third glass. "Am I not allowed to have an occasional drink?"

"It's not that…it's just that you got in a fight and now you're drinking…you're not gonna make a habit out of this, are you?" I chugged down the glass before responding.

"I got in _one_ fight with someone who deserved it. Now I'm having my _occasional _drinking night. What's the big deal?" Anju sighed and looked down. I could tell she wanted to tell me something. "What is it?" I asked, fearing the answer.

"…I'm pregnant." Although I'd expected it, it felt weird to hear her actually say it. As usual, I found myself at a loss for words. All I could do was sip my Chateau Romani in silence. "…Aren't you going to say something?" she asked. "…Anything?"

"What's there to say?" I asked, feeling the alcohol catching up with my brain. "I already suspected it."

"Well…you're not…upset, are you?" she asked in a small voice.

"No…why would I be upset? You happened to get pregnant. We just need to take responsibility now." I slurred.

"Oh, Kafei!" she said, hugging me. "I'm so glad you took it well! I was worried about what you would say because I remembered what you said on the beach during our honeymoon and…"

"I said I'd take responsibility as a father and husband." I interrupted. "It doesn't mean I'll be thrilled about it." That had completely come out wrong. If I'd been sober, I would have never said that.

Anju gasped and ran away sobbing. At that point, I wanted to die. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me and crush me. That's how terrible I felt.

"Anju!" I shouted, staggering drunkenly up the stairs. "I didn't mean it like that!" I tried the bedroom door, but it was locked. I could hear her crying on the other side. I began pounding on the door. "I'm sorry! Come on, let me in, Anju!" realizing it was hopeless I sighed and slumped against the door with my face in my hands. "I swear to the four guardians I didn't mean that." I mumbled to myself. I hadn't wanted us to get pregnant this early is what I'd meant to say. We'd only been married two and a half months, after all. But despite that, I would love and raise this child to the best of my ability along with Anju. But everything always seemed to come out wrong when I was drunk, just like how the Skull Kid thought I had been teasing him when I hadn't meant to that one fateful night.

Finally I heard the lock on the door click. I jumped up from my seated position and entered the bedroom. Anju was sitting on the edge of the bed with her face in her hands. I approached her slowly.

"Anju…" I started to say.

"I don't want to hear it, Kafei." She said, still refusing to look at me. "We'll talk about this tomorrow when you're sober."

"Wha…no! We need to talk about this right now!" I said, seating myself next to her on our bed. I put my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I didn't mean what I said…"

"I know. Things come out wrong when you drink. You told me that before." She said, still not looking up.

"Then why are you so upset if you knew I didn't mean it?" I asked.

"Because I know you don't want a baby."

"I never said that!" I protested. "What I meant to say was that I don't feel ready to be a father right _now_, so I'm not entirely excited about this…"

"Well you have about seven months to prepare yourself." She mumbled.

"I…I will be! Honest!" I assured her. "And I'll love this baby very much and raise it as best I can…I'm just…I'm scared it won't love me." I whispered, putting my face in my hands. Alcohol also made me emotional, and I was angry with myself when I felt tears build up in my eyes.

I should never have drunk that milk earlier.

Anju finally looked up at me.

"What?" she asked.

"I…I want children. But…my whole life I was also terrified of the idea. Because neither of my parents raised me very well…you know. Aroma was always out at the bar and Father was always blowing me off for his job. I resent my parents for that. I don't know how to raise a child because of it, and I don't want the baby to hate me for that." I angrily wiped away a tear that had escaped my eye. "I'll be a terrible father, Anju! I know nothing about raising a child, and the kid will probably resent me its whole life just like I resent my parents!"

"Oh, Kafei!" Anju shouted, throwing her arms around me. "I had no idea you felt that way…"

"The only other person I've talked to about this is Tom." I admitted, actually relieved to get this off my chest to her. I peeled her off of me and tilted her face towards mine. "Anju, I will love this baby and be there for it…the only reason I've always acted weird whenever you mentioned kids is because of what I just told you."

"Kafei, this baby will love you to death." She told me. "I know it will."

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Because I love you too. Everyone loves you, Kafei. You're a big, loveable softie, and I bet you'll spoil this baby its whole life, and it's going to love you very much." She was smiling as she said this. I returned the smile.

"Well, I do intend on spoiling it…" Anju laughed.

"I love you, Kafei."

"I love _you_, Anju." I repeated back to her, gently placing my hand on her stomach. "So…our child's really in there?" Anju smiled.

"It really is!" she assured me. "Right now, it's really tiny…" she explained, emphasizing the sentence using her fingers to show about how small she thought it was. "…But it'll grow. Cremia told me she remembers when her mom was pregnant with Romani, and she says she'll help guide us through all the stages of pregnancy."

"Who else have you told besides Cremia and me?" I asked.

"That's it." She replied.

"…I bet it's going to be a real looker." I said with a smile, which Anju immediately returned. I gave her and her stomach a kiss.

After getting all that off my chest, I suddenly felt much better about the pregnancy. Somehow I felt that everything was going to be okay.

XXX

XXX

The next five and a half months went by rather fast. News about Anju's pregnancy spread around town quickly. By this point I had already accepted the fact that I was going to be a father. I was still nervous of course, but at that point my nervousness was overclouded by excitement. I'd even already grown attached to the baby even though it still hadn't been born yet.

About a month and a half ago Anju had me place my hand on her now-round stomach and I got to feel the baby kick for the first time. She says it kicks around a lot every time I speak. She said that it meant it was going to be very attached to me when it was born. I just hope she's right.

When I woke up, Anju was already on the morning shift. I looked at the clock and was surprised to find that it was 10 o'clock already. Wondering why I slept in so late, I pulled on a white tunic, brown pants, and brown boots and made my way downstairs.

I almost groaned when I saw Mother speaking to Anju. She was wearing gaudy clothes as usual, her makeup was caked on, and she reeked of at least three different scents of strong perfumes. That wasn't what bothered me though, since I was used to those things. What bothered me was that she was speaking to Anju in the same tone she used for lower-class people, and her nose was in the air as if to show off her superiority. That still wasn't the worst part, though. The worst part was that she was trying to talk Anju into convincing me to become mayor.

"Oh, Kafei!" she shouted upon my arrival.

"Mother, I hope you're not bothering my wife trying to make her convince me to become mayor." I told her.

"But Kafei!" she protested. "Your father retires in two weeks already! The position of Clock Town mayor has run in the Dotour family for five generations." She said. "Why would you want to destroy that tradition?" I sighed and rubbed my temples.

"Mother, we've been through this. I don't want to be the mayor, so don't keep bothering us about it."

"Well, your wife seems to think you should reconsider…isn't that so, dear?" she asked, causing me to stare at Anju in surprise.

"Reconsider?" I asked. Anju looked down timidly and placed her hand on her round stomach.

"Well Kafei, you've got to admit…we certainly could use the extra money the job would give you…" she mumbled.

"That's right! Children certainly aren't cheap, you'll soon come to find." Mother said. I chewed my lip in thought. There was a long awkward silence before Mother decided to break it. "Well, I must go now. Kafei, please just think about it. I want you two to talk this over. As Anju said, once the baby's born, you will need the extra money." With that, she exited. I sighed and seated myself on the couch. I stared down at the floor boards with my fists clenched and in my lap.

Anju walked out from behind the reservation desk and seated herself next to me. She placed a comforting hand on my clenched fist, causing it to automatically relax.

"Kafei…"

"I understand where you're coming from." I interrupted. "…But, remember what I told you…"

"Kafei…you know what?" she asked, causing me to pause and stare at her. "You're always so worried you're going to turn out like your father. It's your greatest fear! When I told you I was pregnant, that was the first thing that came to your mind. And now this…Kafei, no matter what you choose, you are not going to be like him! You are your own person! And you've been telling yourself for so long not to be like him, so by now it must be drilled into your head. And you won't be like him! Mayor will be a busy position, yes, but it's to support your new family! And we will find time to spend together on weekends, we'll take vacations, or whatever…we will figure it out. But we do need the extra money, Kafei. So take it while you can and run for mayor." I stared in shock.

"But Anju, the baby…"

"…Will understand and be appreciative." She finished. I gave her a light smile.

"I still don't know. I've been telling myself my whole life I wasn't ever going to run for mayor…let me sleep on it, okay?" I said. Anju smiled and put her head on my shoulder.

"That's better than a no." She mumbled. I put my right arm around her and placed my left hand on her abdomen. I could feel the baby moving around.

"She's restless." I noted.

"Or he." Anju added.

"That reminds me…" I said suddenly. "We should have a few names prepared so when the baby comes, we'll have a name for it." Anju shook her head.

"Well, I think I'd rather wait until the baby arrives. For one, we'll know by then if it's a boy or a girl, and for another thing, we could base the names off of what it looks like, you know?" just then the door opened. It was Tom.

"I think Tom is an awesome name if it's a boy!" he declared. "Or if it's a girl…I wouldn't care. I'd just be flattered you named her after the coolest guy around Clock Town!" Anju laughed.

"Negative." I said with a smirk.

"Aw, why not?" he said, laughing.

"So what brings you here, Tom?" Anju asked. Tom's playful smile faded.

"Actually, I came to tell you two some bad news." Our smiles faded at this.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Right, so you heard about the new prison location in Hyrule, correct?" I nodded. "Well they were moving the Terminian prisoners there, and a few including Sakon escaped." My heart skipped a beat at this.

"Oh no," Anju gasped.

"They're going to print wanted posters for the people who escaped, but I'd be careful if I were you, Kafei. It seems Sakon has made a few friends with some of Termina's most notorious criminals of all time, and according to Viscen's second-in-command, Sakon's been talkin' bad about you to those prisoners." I clenched my fists.

"Why didn't anyone tell me? My mother was just here ten minutes ago. If you knew, it must have been brought to my father's attention first."

"I just got word of it about three minutes ago. I was one of the first to be notified so I could watch out for some of them at the Curiosity Shop since the majority of them are thieves. But I doubt Sakon's stupid enough to show his idiotic mug in my store ever again. He knows I hate his guts and he has to know he's wanted again. Hey, just watch your back…okay Kafei? You too, Anju." He said. Anju's hands were cupped over her mouth. I turned to her.

"Anju, from now on, I don't want you walking anywhere alone, okay? Especially at night…even to go to the laundry pool." I told her. I knew she, like me, enjoyed going to the laundry pool to cool off or escape from the real world, even sometimes at night.

"…Okay…" she agreed. I turned to Tom.

"Thanks, man." I told him. "You keep your eyes open as well. Sakon knows you're the one who ratted him out to Captain Viscen."

"Yep. I need to go stock my shelf for tonight. You two take care." He said, taking off.

There was a long silence. I broke it with a curse under my breath.

Then I cursed three more times because it almost made me feel better about things.

"Kafei…" Anju whispered.

"Anju," I said. "Don't trust anybody. Don't talk to anybody you don't know. Don't go anywhere by yourself, always carry something that can be used as a weapon if need be…"

"I understand, Kafei. I'll be careful…but you be careful as well." She said. I nodded and pulled her into a hug.

XXX

Anju's POV

One week went by, and still no news of Sakon and the escaped prisoners and no decision on Kafei's part to become mayor. I wish he'd hurry up and make his decision. We only had one week left. I still wanted him to do it, and he was still bitter about it.

I had just finished reading one of Granny's old stories when Kafei crawled into bed beside me.

"I'll do it." He said quietly. I blinked and set the book on the nightstand.

"Do what?" I inquired. Kafei sighed.

"…Become mayor." He sounded unsure still, but it was a yes!

"Oh, Kafei!" I shouted excitedly, pecking his lips. "I know you're not ecstatic about this, but it'll be worth it! You'll see!" he sighed.

"I'm doing this for the baby. I was thinking about what you said, and you're right. We'll need the extra money." He looked down at his hands. "But that doesn't mean this is a permanent decision. I could always quit."

"Try to stick with it." I encouraged.

"Oh, I intend to. But if I even remotely begin to remind myself of my father, I'm quitting without a second thought." I sighed and blew out the candle on the nightstand and cuddled with Kafei, placing my head on his bare chest.

"Kafei," I whispered, interlacing my fingers with his. "Please don't ever think you could let us down. It's…impossible." It was dark, but I could picture a small smile on his face.

He kissed the top of my head and soon we both fell asleep.

XXX

**So what do you guys think? I tried to give Kafei SOME type of flaw (first real argument with Anju) without making him seem like an asshole (hence, blame the alcohol!) because I felt like I was making him seem TOO good to be true, and I want the story to be realistic. **

**Thanks for the reviews and favorites so far! Keep 'em coming!  
**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo**


	6. Guilt

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, or places affiliated with Nintendo. I only own Kafei's and Anju's baby (name will be revealed later! :P)**

**Author's Note: WARNING! This chapter contains SOMEWHAT mature content…in very minor detail, describes the process of Anju noticing her water broke (very minor), a minor-detailed birth scene, and implied rape. You have been warned.**

**So the plot twist IS in fact coming up. Bear with me readers, it will all work out in the end. ;)**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo**

The next morning, I awoke around 6:30 am to find a little note on Kafei's pillow. Beside it was a beautiful red rose.

"Anju, I went to Tom's to help him stock some heavy goods he just got in. I'll be back before noon. –Love, Kafei." The note read.

I smiled at the rose and smelled it. It smelled sweet.

I was still half asleep, and the inn didn't open until 8, so I decided to rest for another hour before getting up and putting the rose in water and a vase.

I managed to doze off and I didn't wake up again until 9:30.

"Ah!" I gasped, throwing the covers off and jumping out of bed. "The inn was supposed to be open an hour and a half ago!" I doubled over when I got a sharp cramp in my stomach, but I disregarded it as I scrambled to get dressed.

But something caused me to stop.

Not only was I standing in a puddle of some type of liquid, but upon further observation I realized that the same fluid was all over the sheets only on my side of the bed…not to mention I now realized something dripping down my leg.

I wondered to myself how I could possibly have had an accident at my age, and I blushed in embarrassment wondering what Kafei would think about that.

I then wondered if it had to do with the baby…I remembered when I first got pregnant that my mother warned me about having to urinate frequently…

…The baby! It was due in a week!

I stared at the liquid again. It appeared to be water.

As if confirming my suspicions, I groaned in pain as I got another stomach cramp.

"Oh no…" I whispered.

I hadn't had an accident when I dozed off…

…My water broke.

XXX

Kafei's POV

"What the hell is this?" I asked, eyeing a huge, wooden block-like thing.

"I have no idea." Tom replied, smiling stupidly. I shook my head.

"You're selling something that you don't even know what it is." I stated, rolling my eyes.

"Hey, it's better that way! That way if it's illegal, when the authorities question me, I can answer them honestly in saying I had no idea what it was!" I shook my head again.

"Well how do you decide what to price it at if you have no idea what it is?" I asked.

Ignoring my question, Tom said, "Just help me lift this thing. We ain't got all day." Sighing, I took one side of it while he took the other.

On the count of three, we lifted the heavy object and began to haul it into the Curiosity Shop.

Just then Victor jogged up to us in his postman uniform.

"Hey Victor." I grunted, still hauling the large clock.

"Victor! What brings you here? Aren't you on the job?" Tom asked.

"Yes. Madame Aroma sent me. Kafei, Anju is in labor." My heart skipped a beat at this.

"Now?" I shouted. Victor smiled and nodded, still jogging in place.

My excitement to get to Anju made me completely forget about the giant block, which I promptly dropped.

"Where is she?"

"AHH!" I heard Tom shout, followed by a curse.

Oops.

Looks like I accidentally dropped the heavy block on his toe.

"Sorry!" I shouted, lifting the block. "Where, Victor?"

"They're delivering the baby at the Mayor's Residence on the second floor in the guest room. Aroma apparently had a midwife prepared for the occasion."

"Thanks!" I said, darting away. "Sorry, Tom!" I apologized for leaving him to do all the work by himself.

As I ran to East Clock Town, I heard the squeaking of Victor's sandals as he jogged off to go about his daily schedule.

Soon I heard another pair of footsteps. I turned my head and smiled.

Tom was hobbling behind me…sore toe and all.

What a great friend he was, leaving behind his precious bought-stolen goods out in the middle of the street in West Clock Town…

When I entered the residence, Tom finally caught up with me.

"I'll wait here, Kafei. Let me know how everything goes!" Tom smiled reassuringly. Not slowing my pace, I gave him a curt nod and darted towards the second-floor guest room.

My mother was waiting just outside the room along with Anju's grandmother, who was reading one of her old books.

Mother smiled in greeting. I gave a quick nod of acknowledgement and pushed into the room.

XXX

Anju's POV

As soon as I had realized that my water broke, I darted downstairs to alert Mother. Thankfully, she was behind the reservation desk. I guess she must have figured I was tired and had decided to take my shift for me.

When I told her what had happened, she led me to the mayor's residence because Aroma had previously told me she had a midwife who worked part-time for the mayor.

Once I was situated in the guest room, Mother returned with Granny, who waited outside the door with Aroma. Thankfully, Victor had a delivery for the mayor, so he was sent to get Kafei and let him know I was going into labor.

My contractions soon became more frequent and more painful, and then the midwife had to instruct me to start pushing.

Mother held my hand and encouraged me.

The only thing I could think about was what was taking Kafei. I was soon reminded of waiting for him almost a year ago, when the moon was about to fall. Towards the end when I had given up hope and thought he wouldn't show, he had burst through the door in his child body clutching the Sun's Mask.

He had kept his promise.

He had made it.

"He will be here." I whispered to myself as I gave another push.

Just then the door burst open. Kafei quickly darted over to my left side, opposite of my mother, and he took my left hand in his. His crimson eyes showed a mix of fear and excitement. I looked up at Mother, who smiled at Kafei lightly, who soon returned it.

I beamed at both of them. Suddenly I got a terrible contraction, and then gave one, big push.

XXX

Kafei's POV

I darted in and saw Anju on the bed. She was all sweaty and her face was flushed. She appeared to be in a lot of pain. Eleanor was to her right holding her hand.

I dashed over to Anju's left and held her left hand. Eleanor and I then exchanged a quick glance, and then she surprised me by smiling at me. It was a small smile, but it wasn't a scowl, at least.

Maybe she truly _is_ starting to warm up to me.

I returned the smile, which immediately broke when Anju cried out in pain. Her grasp on my hand tightened into a vice-like grip and she sat up, her face contorted into a grimace as she pushed with all her might. A split second later, she fell back onto the bed, lightly shaking. Soon the sound of crying filled the room, and my heart skipped a beat upon the realization that it was my child…_our_ child.

"Congratulations, it's a girl!" the midwife exclaimed. Eleanor laughed happily and Anju looked up at me and smiled. I returned it happily. Just then the midwife placed the tiny thing in Anju's arms, and I looked at her – my daughter – for the first time. After about a minute she stopped crying and opened her eyes. They were my eyes – a fiery scarlet color – and she had hair like Anju's, but it was about a shade darker, almost a reddish-brown. Anju looked up at me and smiled.

"Anju…" I breathed. "She's…the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…well, next to you of course." I whispered, causing Anju to giggle.

"Hold her." She whispered, holding the infant out to me. My smile faded.

"Oh…" I mumbled, carefully taking the baby in my arms.

"Don't be nervous. It's fine." Eleanor encouraged me. Once the baby was settled in my arms, she looked up at me, crimson eyes meeting crimson.

"Oh, Kafei!" Anju shouted, wiping away a tear. I looked away from her in embarrassment upon the realization I had let a few tears slip out. Eleanor peered over my shoulder at the baby.

"May I?" she asked. I nodded and put the baby in her arms, taking the opportunity to wipe my tears now that my hands were free to do so.

After that, I happily bent down and pressed my lips against Anju's. "I love you." I whispered, pressing my forehead against hers, which was wet with sweat, but I didn't pay it any mind.

"I love you, too." She whispered back.

About ten minutes later once the baby was calm and Anju was taken care of, Tom came in along with Mother, who was pushing Anju's grandmother in her wheelchair. My father followed closely behind. They each took turns holding the baby and conversing excitedly.

I sat on the side of the bed next to Anju, clutching her hand.

This moment seemed surreal. It felt like I was dreaming.

But I wasn't dreaming, I soon came to realize as Tom rather roughly yet playfully punched me in the arm to snap me out of my trance.

"What the hell, Tom?" I growled, breaking my grasp on Anju's hand to rub my sore arm. Tom just laughed.

"She's beautiful. Let's just hope she grows up to take after her mother." He said jokingly. I punched his arm back.

"Thanks." I said sarcastically with a smile.

"So are you gonna call her Tom?" Anju laughed at this but I frowned.

We didn't have a name prepared for her yet, I realized.

"Shoot." I murmured.

"It's okay, Kafei. We can think of something tonight." Anju said.

So once everyone got to hold the baby and congratulate us, they left.

Anju had to stay in the midwife's care overnight to make sure she was healing properly, so I stayed with her.

After the midwife showed Anju how to breastfeed, the baby soon fell asleep in Anju's arms. We stared at her as we tried to come up with a name. After each of us suggested and turned down quite a few name possibilities, I thought of the baby's piercing, scarlet eyes.

"Scarlett." I said suddenly, causing Anju to look up at me. "Because of her eyes."

"Scarlett Dotour…" Anju mumbled, testing to see if the two names went well together. "Yes. I love it." I smiled and kissed Anju.

"Scarlett it is, then." I decided, gently touching the baby's head.

"Are you still nervous?" Anju asked suddenly.

"About what?" I inquired. She could either be talking about parenthood or becoming mayor. I think it's obvious in this case that she was most likely talking about parenthood, however.

"About being a daddy." She said in a soft voice, gently setting Scarlett between the two of us.

"A little bit." I admitted. "But I'm much more confident than I was at first."

"Me too." Anju agreed, we were silent for a long time as we stared down at our beautiful child. It was still a surreal feeling to me that our love had created something so beautiful, and I'm sure Anju is feeling something similar.

"I think I'm going to have to purchase a bow and arrow from the archery shop owner soon." I said.

"Why?" Anju asked, looking at me with a confused frown.

"I might need it. Look at her, Anju. She's going to be stunningly beautiful. How else am I going to chase the stupid hormonal young boys off?" Anju laughed at this.

"You're gonna be a great father." She assured me. "I can tell already…well, I always knew you would." I smiled.

"Look, Anju. Look at her. Our love created that. Isn't it such a surreal feeling?" I whispered, leaning my head against hers.

"Yes it is." She agreed. "It truly is."

XXX

The next day, Eleanor decided to be nice and manage the inn so Anju and I could get to know our new daughter. She was good; she mainly slept throughout the day and night. Although most people would consider watching an infant sleep a boring activity, Anju and I were captivated by watching her sleep, which is what we were doing at this particular moment. To us, every little sound or movement she made was precious, and we didn't want to miss a thing.

"Anju, she's the most precious little thing in the world." I commented as we stared down at the sleeping infant, fast asleep in her crib. I grabbed her tiny hand in mine.

"Isn't she?" Anju agreed, running her fingers through Scarlett's auburn hair. I put my arms around Anju and kissed the top of her head.

Our thoughts were suddenly interrupted when we heard the bell ring from the door downstairs.

"What do you want? Get out of my sight!" we heard Eleanor shout. I groaned in annoyance when I heard the dramatic gasp of my mother.

"Well, I never!" she shouted. "Aren't I allowed to visit my young granddaughter and son? I see you haven't changed in the slightest, Eleanor!" due to all the loud noise, Scarlett's beautiful crimson eyes snapped open and she began to whine.

"Poor baby!" Anju cooed, picking her up and cradling her in an attempt to calm her down. I could hear my mother's heavy heels clanking against the wooden stairs loudly.

She barged in with a volume that would rival that of a Goron, and her face was beet red. She was drunk…as usual.

"Mother! You woke up Scarlett!" I shouted angrily, pointing to Anju and the crying infant in her arms.

"Why, that woman gets me so irritated! Hmph!" she shouted, ignoring my previous remark.

"What do you need now, Mother?" I asked, trying not to sound too angry, despite the fact that I was.

"Kafei, we need to know by Saturday if you will run for mayor…will you?" I almost shouted out in annoyance, but I bit my tongue. Anju averted her gaze toward me, awaiting my answer. Her beautiful blue eyes were begging me to answer 'yes'. I still wanted to say no, but I promised Anju I would…besides, little Scarlett deserved to be spoiled rotten, and there was no way I could do that nearly as much as I wanted to on just my inn keeping salary.

Just then, Scarlett's crying stopped abruptly, and she turned to look at me. She looked so much like Anju except for the eyes. They both seemed to almost have the same expression on their faces. It warmed my heart.

I sighed. "Yes, Mother…I'll do it." Mother cried out in joy and clapped her hands excitedly, her gold bracelets clanking together. Anju smiled approvingly and baby Scarlett began blowing spit bubbles, causing me to smile.

"Excellent! I will let your father know! Now…may I see my granddaughter and take her to show off to the girls?" she asked, averting her attention towards Anju. Anju's smile faded. She felt uncomfortable, I could tell, with Mother handling our baby in her drunken state. Personally, I did too, and my newfound fatherly protective instinct caused me to step in between them.

"No, Mother. Not in your state." Mother looked highly offended by this.

"Well, I'll be careful! I know how to handle a child! I'll bring her right back! I just want to show her off to the girls! They've been dying to see her!" she said, attempting to snatch her. I moved in front of her hand's way and gently pushed it away.

"If they want to see her, tell them to read the newspaper. You had her photo printed on every front page, after all." I said.

"No, you don't understand. They want to see her in person!" she shouted, sidestepping me and trying to snatch Scarlett yet again.

Anju turned her back to her so she couldn't get a hold of Scarlett and glared at her over her shoulder.

"Madame Aroma, please forgive me…but I do not feel comfortable putting my daughter in your care while in this state. Maybe another day when you are completely sober." This made Mother's face redden with anger.

"Why, you ungrateful little third-class urchin! I talked you into convincing Kafei to become mayor so your daughter could have a by far better upbringing than you! So she wouldn't turn out like you, your mother, or even your wretched father! And this is how you repay me? It appalls me to believe that third-class citizens like you truly believe it is okay for you to stand up to wealthy first-class people such as myself! I warned Kafei not to marry you! I knew from the instant I realized you were Eleanor's daughter that you were no good for my son! I was almost happy when Kafei ran away! I was worried for his well-being, of course, but I was glad because I thought he had finally come to his senses and decided not to marry you!"

"Mother, leave!" I shouted, causing Scarlett to start whining again. "How dare you come into our home and disrespect Anju that way!" just then, I felt Anju's hand on my shoulder.

"No, it's fine. I understand." She said, causing both my mother and me to stare in shock.

"What?" I asked. Anju's eyes were glistening with tears, but there was a sad smile on her lips.

"The truth has finally come out. She doesn't like me. I always knew it deep down, but now that she's said it aloud, it's…in a sense, relieving. Because now that I know that our relationship as in-laws is near impossible to mend, we don't have to continue pretending to like each other for your sake, Kafei…or even for Scarlett's until she's old enough to recognize the tension."

"But, Anju…that…"

I was at a loss for words.

I couldn't tell her that Mother was just drunk. I couldn't say she didn't mean it and that it would all blow over soon, because she _did_ mean it and it _wouldn't_ blow over. Mother truly felt that way, which was exactly why we hadn't gotten along for years.

And Anju knew it.

She knew Mother had always disliked her, but she always tried to earn her approval every time they spoke.

I guess Anju was done trying now, though.

"She was speaking her true feelings she's been harboring about me for years." Anju turned to Mother and lowered her head respectfully. "I'm sorry you feel that way about me, Madame. Excuse me." With that, she grabbed a baby blanket, bundled a whining Scarlett up, and then exited.

I stared at the floor, clenching and unclenching my fists. Finally I looked up to see if I found any trace of remorse on Mother's face.

I wish I had never looked.

The vain woman had been applying her makeup with the aid of a small mirror, as if she hadn't a care in the world.

I shook my head in disbelief.

"Get. Out. Of. My. House." I said in a dangerously low tone. Mother looked appalled.

"But Kafei–"

"GET OUT!" I shouted, pointing towards the door.

Mother was just about to protest, but then she saw Eleanor enter.

"Would either of you mind telling me why my daughter just took off carrying my grandchild with tears streaming down her face?" she asked with a glare.

"Ask Aroma." I spat, grabbing a coat from the coat rack.

I didn't even look back at the two bickering women as I darted towards the laundry pool.

XXX

Anju's POV

I purposely avoided the laundry pool because I knew that was the first place Kafei would come looking for us.

Instead I took Scarlett to the little park in North Clock Town. She was too young to go on the slide and climb the blocks, but I needed a place to get away and think without being bothered and the park seemed like the best place to do that.

I went behind the playground and sat with my legs crossed. I spread the blanket on the grass and set Scarlett on top of it. She had stopped whining and was staring up at me curiously with her big crimson eyes…her daddy's eyes. I kissed the top of her head and laid beside her on the blanket, letting some tears I'd been holding back slip.

I looked in surprise as Scarlett caught a tear in her little hand. She then stared at her hand confusedly then looked back up at me.

I had to smile at this.

She reminded me so much of Kafei. He always caught my tears when I cried.

"Sweetie." I whispered, kissing her again. "Mama loves you." I told her, laying my head down and eventually dozing off.

XXX 

When I woke up, I didn't know where I was.

Memories came flooding back to me, and I mentally cursed myself for allowing myself to doze off.

It was dark out now, and Scarlett was fast asleep on the blanket. Thankfully it was summertime, and we have very warm summer nights, so Scarlett likely wouldn't catch a cold.

"Let's go home, Sweetie. Daddy and Grandma are probably worried sick." My words fell on deaf ears, and Scarlett clarified that by snoring. I laughed and gathered her and the blanket up.

"Hey! Stop!" I heard someone shout.

I darted over to see.

A bunch of men were ganging up on the gate guard.

Deciding it was probably a good idea to get myself and Scarlett out of there and get Kafei to alert the mayor, I began to run.

But then I crashed into someone.

I almost fell but managed to regain my balance.

I looked up and was faced with a bald, grinning man.

I gasped upon the realization of who it must be.

But if this was Sakon, then those men must be…

…_The escaped prisoners, _I thought in horror.

The bald man smiled sinisterly.

"Short auburn hair, big blue eyes, pale skin…you must be…Anju Dotour." He said, grinning almost psychotically. "You've probably heard my name before. I'm Sakon. Does my name ring a bell?"

I looked back to find that the prisoners had knocked the guard out. Either that or killed him…I didn't want to stay to find out, though.

I began to run, but Sakon grabbed me.

"Where do you think you're goin', pretty lady?" he asked, yanking me roughly and almost causing me to drop Scarlett.

"Let me go, please…I have a child." I begged, tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.

"Neither of you are goin' anywhere." He said, grinning.

By now the prisoners – about four of them – were surrounding us. Sakon still had a rough hold on my arm. I clutched Scarlett protectively.

"HELP!" I screamed as loud as I could. "HE–" suddenly one of the men roughly yanked Scarlett out of my arms. "Give her back!" I pleaded. By now, she was awake and looking around confusedly. "Please!" I begged.

"You'd best keep your mouth shut, lady…that is, if you want your daughter to live to see her first birthday." One of the men threatened. I began to sob.

"Please…" I whispered. "Don't hurt her."

"Take the child back to the hideout." Sakon ordered.

"Yes sir!" the man carrying Scarlett said.

Scarlett began to whine as she was taken away.

"NOOO! Give her back!" I shouted, trying to yank myself free of Sakon's grasp.

Suddenly something struck my cheek and I fell to the ground.

Looking up I realized Sakon had backhanded me.

"Didn't we tell you to shut up?" he demanded.

I began to crawl underneath them to get out of the circle so I could run after the man that had Scarlett, but Sakon grabbed me by the hair and roughly pulled me up to my feet and turned me to face him.

"Didn't I tell you you're not goin' anywhere?" he drew his hand back and smacked me again, but this time I feel into the arms of one of the prisoners.

He laughed and roughly pushed me towards Sakon, who pushed me against the tree.

"Why don't you guys go catch up with Seth? I'll be there after I take care of some…business." He said, grinning maliciously. He had my hands suspended above my head and pinned against the tree.

I tried to wiggle free, but realizing it was hopeless, I whimpered and sagged in defeat as he stroked my cheek.

"Yes sir." The three men said in unison, leaving.

"Now…" Sakon said. "…If you want us to keep that baby of yours alive and unharmed, I suggest you do as I say…understood?"

I nodded in defeat.

XXX

Kafei's POV

I paced the hallway anxiously, waiting for Anju to return with Scarlett.

It was going on 11:30 already. Where could they be?

I had thought for sure they'd be at the laundry pool, but they hadn't been. When I realized that, I figured Anju knew that that would have been the first place I checked, and since she wasn't there, she obviously didn't want to be disturbed.

So I had returned to the inn (thankfully Mother was gone at that point) and decided to give her some space for a few hours.

But here it was almost midnight and there was still no sign of either of them.

I went downstairs to see Eleanor sitting on the sofa with her face in her hands.

"I'm gonna go look for them." I announced, pulling on my coat and shoes.

Eleanor didn't look at me. She merely nodded and I exited.

I checked the laundry pool again, but they weren't there. So I checked every place they might be.

Then I went door-to-door, asking residents and shop owners if they'd seen them. A lot of people were kind of grouchy upon having their sleep disturbed, but I didn't care.

After a half hour went by, I started to panic.

I ran to Tom's and darted through the unlocked door.

"Tom!" I shouted. "Anju and Scarlett have been missing since this afternoon!" I shouted, out of breath.

Tom was hunched over something with his back turned to me.

I approached slowly and peeked over the counter.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

My heart stopped when Tom turned to face me. Tears were streaming down his face, and his eyes behind his glasses were red and puffy.

"Tom?" I asked worriedly.

"The prisoners…" he whispered. "…They attacked the ranch." He said, sniffling and angrily wiping tears away. "They were…stealing the milk. Meanwhile my brother was out by Milk Road searching the bushes for fairies to stock the Trading Post. He heard all the commotion and tried to help, but they…they…"

"Tom…" I said with sympathy.

Peering over, I realized what Tom had been hunched over before…an old photo album.

"You say Anju and Scarlett are missing?" he asked, wiping away more stray tears.

"…Yes…" I say, still feeling sympathetic for him.

"They've got to be around here somewhere. Where haven't you looked?"

I thought about it.

"Well…North Clock Town, but why would they be there?"

"You never know. Go check." I nodded.

"Thanks. And…I'm sorry for your loss." Tom nodded and went back to staring at old pictures.

I made my way to North Clock Town.

I seemed to be filling with dread with each step I took. I can't explain why, but I was getting even more and more nervous the closer my feet carried me to my destination.

It was probably because of what Tom told me…the prisoners were nearby. That meant that Sakon was, too.

When I entered North Clock Town, I gasped in surprise.

The gate guard was dead on the floor.

Then a soft sobbing that seemed to be coming from behind the playground caught my attention.

I darted over.

It was Anju.

Her dress was torn and her body was bruised and bloodied in some spots.

"Anju!" I cried, kneeling next to her.

"Kafei!" she whined, grabbing me tightly and crying into my shoulder.

I gently peeled her off of me and looked at her.

I was ready to violently kill somebody.

"Who did this to you?" I demanded.

"It was…him…" she whispered, shivering. "Kafei…he…they took Scarlett."

My heart stopped.

"Who?" I asked, dreading the answer yet somehow knowing it before she even spoke.

"S…Sakon and the…prisoners. They took her away." She started crying again. "I'm so sorry, Kafei! I tried to stop them, but he beat me and he…he…"

"Shh, it's not your fault." I told her, grabbing her again. "It's not." I pulled her against me and stroked the back of her hair as she sobbed. I felt a lump form in my throat shortly after a few tears escaped past my eyes. "It's mine." I admitted sadly. "It's all my fault…"

XXX

**I feel really terrible about what happened to Anju. :'( I just want to say right now that I do NOT in any way support rape, and I don't enjoy writing about it. It's a serious issue but I felt the need to include it to show what a piece of sh** Sakon is AND give Kafei more of an incentive to kick his pathetic a**…plus he did all this to get back at Kafei, like was foreshadowed recently.**

**I'd like to thank ForeverZeldaGirl for not only sticking with all my stories since my fic Buried In The Desert Sands (a good read for you to check out if you're into the Gerudo Tribe from OoT), but she also gave me the idea of having Sakon kidnap Scarlett to get back at Kafei.**

**And Tom's dead brother (RIP…) was in fact the Trading Post shop owner. I decided on this after reading a post on a Zelda website in which fans theorized about the Curiosity Shop owner and the Trading Post owner being the same guy, just with different jobs open different hours (Trading Post is open in the daytime while the Curiosity Shop is open at night). I decided, for Tom's sake, to make them brothers instead (Nintendo characters in fanfictions need sleep too, you know!). **

**Thanks for the reviews and favorites so far! Keep 'em coming!  
**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo**


	7. Taking Action

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews and favorites! It's really a rewarding feeling every time I get an email notification that someone favorited, alerted, or reviewed this story! **

**And it's almost done…every time I finish a story, it's bittersweet. I'm happy to finish but also sad until I find a new project to work on. ^.^**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XXX

Anju was so weak I had to carry her bridal style to the Mayor's Residence so the doctor could check her out. She ended up having so many wounds she needed to stay overnight. She felt unsafe sleeping alone so I stayed with her. I fell asleep slumped forward in the chair with my head on the bed while clutching her hand.

Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep at all. I woke up at 7:30.

I didn't take my eyes off Anju. She looked so battered and broken.

I wanted to murder Sakon. I wanted to torture him and make him suffer for what he did to Anju – and Scarlett.

Anju woke up approximately fifteen minutes after I did.

Eleanor entered a split second later. She started crying when she saw Anju and cried even more when Anju told her about Scarlett.

I felt myself getting angrier with Sakon by the second. So I left the room discretely to cool off so as not to upset Anju even more than she already was.

Just then Mother darted over to me.

…Well, so much for cooling off.

"Kafei, I am so sorry! I heard about what happened, and I can't help thinking that it's my fault! I–" I put my hand up to stop her.

"Mother, please just leave me be right now. My temper's flaring, and I need to cool off." I warned her, feeling my face growing red hot.

"Well here." She said, pulling out a piece of parchment.

"What is that?" I inquired.

"I need you to sign this. It's your ticket to running for mayor."

That's it.

My camel's back is broken…I felt it snap.

I snatched the parchment and ripped it clean down the middle.

Mother looked appalled.

"Kafei!"

I threw the now-ripped parchment down.

"What's wrong with you?" Mother shouts.

"You arrogant, pampered bitch! Don't you care about anything but yourself?" I screamed, causing her to put her hand over her mouth. "The prisoners have escaped, they terrorized and killed Tom's brother, they kidnapped my child, and their leader brutally beat and raped my wife and left her for dead! And you still concern yourself with such petty matters?" I got dangerously close to her, causing her to take a step back. "I am done with you, Mother. You may no longer call me your son. You're a selfish, vain, sickening woman and I am done with you."

Before leaving, I took note of Eleanor standing in the doorway, looking at me approvingly.

I made my way to the Laundry Pool.

Once there, I sat in the bench and put my head in my hands. And I sobbed…for the first time ever.

I actually sobbed.

"Hey." I heard a voice.

I didn't have to look to know it was Tom, but out of respect I looked anyway to acknowledge him. His eyes showed pain, just as I'm sure mine did.

I gestured for him to sit beside me.

"I heard." He said, taking a seat.

We sat in silence for a while.

"It's all my fault." I mumbled.

"What is?" he inquired.

"EVERYTHING!" I shouted, standing up and driving my fist into the stone wall. "Argh!" I shouted in pain, shaking my bloodied hand. "If I had never chased Sakon down like that…all of this could have been avoided." My voice cracked on 'avoided' and I found myself sobbing once again. "I'm a failure, Tom! I failed to run for mayor, I failed as a husband, and I failed as a father, just as I always knew I would." I say in between sobs.

"Kafei…" Tom tried.

"I wasn't able to protect the two most important women in my life…I'm just a big failure. Anju was right. I should never have let my ego get the better of me and chase after Sakon like that. Now he's getting revenge by targeting my family."

There was a long, awkward silence. I just stood there letting tears fall freely down my face.

Finally Tom spoke.

"Kafei…" he whispered. "You're angry at Sakon and the prisoners for messing with your family."

"Clearly." I mumbled.

"Well, they messed with my family too – my brother. They killed my brother. I want vengeance, and you need to get your daughter back."

I looked up at him in surprise.

"Tom? What are you implying?" I asked curiously. Tom finally turned his thoughtful gaze toward me, his blue eyes burning with a mix of anger and determination.

"You and I are goin' to Ikana."

I shook my head no.

"Tom! Sakon's not that stupid. I'm sure he's moved his hideout by now."

Now Tom shook his head.

"Kafei, remember the Iron Knuckle suit in my shop that you used as a peephole when your wedding mask was stolen?" I nodded.

"Of course. How could I forget?"

"Well, Sakon brought that thing in years ago. I normally would have sold it, but thought it'd be nice décor, so I kept it and turned it into the peephole."

"I don't understand why you're telling me all of this." I said. Tom stood up.

"Damn, Kafei! All those years of education they put you through back when you were livin' in the Mayor's Residence and you don't remember your Terminian history?"

I stared at him blankly.

"What the hell are you saying?" I asked.

"Kafei, Iron Knuckles only exist in the deserts of Hyrule and in Ikana. Sakon's hideout is in Ikana. Sakon used to live there. He told me he's been livin' there. He told me his folks died and was on his own at age thirteen. So he's been there a good two decades or so."

"And?" I asked, growing agitated with this seemingly pointless bit of information.

"When you followed him to his hideout, didn't you get an eerie feeling?"

"Very eerie." I admitted.

"And I'm sure you are familiar with the history of the war between the Garo warriors and the Ikana soldiers, right?"

"Yes." I responded.

"The eerie feeling you felt was from the fallen warriors. Their spirits loom all around Ikana with a thirst for blood. They attack anyone who isn't descended from them if they stay there too long. So why do you think Sakon was never attacked after two decades of living there?"

I felt a slight shiver go down my spine as I came to my realization.

"Sakon is a descendant of the Garo." I said in amazement. Tom nodded.

"Right. He told me once back when he used to be a regular."

"So why should we travel to Ikana?" I asked.

"Well for one, even if his hideout is abandoned, we might find clues around there as to where his new hideout is. Secondly, a man and his young daughter live there studying the land. I figure they might be descendants as well; otherwise they would have been targeted too. So maybe they will have a clue as to where Sakon could be. But I have a good feeling he's still hiding out there, maybe not in the same place…because what better a place to have a hideout than a haunted canyon that no one wants to travel to?"

"Sakon has neighbors in a haunted, desolate region." I noted. "Odd."

"Kafei, when we find them, I'll help take on the band of prisoners. I'll do everything I can to help you get Scarlett. But Sakon is all yours. But there's still one question…"

"What?" I asked.

"When do you want to leave?" I bit my lip in thought.

"Don't open shop tonight." I told him finally. "I'm comin' at 12:30 tonight. Be ready to go."

XXX

"Can we rest now?" I heard Tom ask, who was trudging along behind me slowly.

"No. Keep going." I replied, shielding my eyes from the bright sunrise. It was already dawn and we weren't even past the large fences yet. In fact, that's where we were struggling.

"Kafei…" Tom moaned in an almost whiny voice.

"Don't be a wuss." I replied, although I inwardly noted I was getting pretty tired myself.

Eventually we reached the top of the wall where we both collapsed, panting to catch our breath.

"We can't rest until we get to Ikana." I told Tom. "There's these boulder things over here that blow up on you, so mind your step." I'd learned the hard way from previous experience.

"Let's go." Tom gasped. We both darted ahead.

XXX

Anju's POV

I sighed contently as Mother and I stepped into the inn. It felt good to be out of that hospital.

"I think I'm going to go upstairs and rest, Mother." I said. Mom nodded.

"Yes, dear." She said, kissing the top of my head.

I made my way upstairs, eager to rest.

I couldn't help but wonder, however, where in the world Kafei disappeared to.

_He must have fallen asleep at the Laundry Pool again,_ I thought to myself.

I finally made it to the bedroom and opened the door.

I gasped at what I saw.

There was Sakon.

Then I saw none other than Scarlett. She was fast asleep in her crib.

"Scarlett!" I shout, running over to the crib.

"Shh, she's asleep. You wouldn't want to wake her, would you?" Sakon asked in a sinister tone, his trademark creepy grin forming on his face.

I went to grab her, but he snatched her away from me.

"Please give her back to me!" I begged, tears springing into my eyes.

"Shh." Sakon repeated. "Let her sleep. You don't want her to suffer her death too much, do you?" he asked, pulling out a knife. I grabbed onto his arm.

"Please don't!" I begged. "Please!"

"Anju!" I heard a voice.

Next thing I knew, Kafei burst through the door. His eyes burned with a fiery anger when he saw Sakon.

He charged at him with full speed. Sakon grinned and held his knife out, awaiting the collision.

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away.

The next thing I heard was Kafei's mournful cry.

"NO!" I sobbed. I looked up and saw Sakon clutching the bloody knife, his face twisted into that same sick, twisted grin.

He grabbed me roughly by the hair and hauled me to my feet, resting the blade against my throat.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "We'll give you whatever ransom you demand. Why can't you just give us Scarlett back and let us be?" at this point, tears were streaming from both eyes.

Sakon laughed.

"You thought you'd all just pay me off? Thanks to your idiotic husband, I can no longer come to Clock Town and make money off my stolen goods. Well I definitely made sure he paid for that mistake, didn't I?"

"You've already killed my husband. Do whatever you want to me, but just please don't harm my daughter." I begged. Sakon laughed.

"Why will you care what happens to her when you're dead?" he held the knife up threateningly. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact.

"Anju! Anju dear, wake up!"

"AHHH!"

XXX

I screamed, shooting up and breathing heavily.

I was back in the hospital room. It was early morning, and Mother was staring at me concernedly.

"Where's Kafei?" I shouted.

"No one's seen him since yesterday afternoon."

"NO!" I screamed, leaping out of the bed. The vivid dream was still in my head.

I groaned in pain, almost immediately falling backwards into bed from my still-sore wounds.

"Calm down, dear. He's probably either at Tom's or at the laundry pool."

"Mother!" I shouted, remembering my dream. "What if Sakon asked for a ransom for Scarlett?" I asked.

"Well, I doubt he would do that, dear. Then he'd be walking right into a trap by revealing his whereabouts. By then, Aroma and Mayor Dotour would have informed the authorities of his location."

"Oh…right." I sighed.

"I just wish that husband of yours would realize he can't just run from every single problem that he's faced with. First the curse, now this. He always disappears when something happens. He needs to quit running away from life."

"I have an odd feeling he didn't exactly run away, Mother." I admitted, feeling uneasy.

"Oh? Then what do you think happened to him?" she asked.

"I know him well. I know how he thinks and how he reacts to things. Mother, he didn't run away. He left to track Sakon down and get Scarlett back."

XXX 

Kafei's POV

It took awhile, but we were finally able to track down Sakon's lair.

"Be very careful. Keep your eyes peeled for any signs of danger or ambush." I whispered to Tom. Tom nodded and we began to observe the room.

In the corner of the room there was a blue floor switch. I gulped inwardly, remembering what happened the last time I stepped on a switch and what that mistake nearly cost me.

I approached the switch cautiously, and then stepped on it. It opened a hidden door.

I darted over to the door, which immediately slammed shut in my face. I turned.

"Tom!" I shouted.

"Way ahead of ya!" he said, standing in the switch for me.

"Thanks." I said, darting forward into the next room.

There was Scarlett, sleeping soundly in a little makeshift crib.

"This is too easy…" I observed, being very cautious.

Sure enough, my only escape was cut off as metal bars slammed down over the door.

I heard a sinister laugh, and there was Sakon.

"You piece of shit!" I spat, my emotions flaring because of what he'd done to my precious Anju and the fact that even after all that, here he was dangling my child's life in front of me.

"Watch it, Dotour." He replied with a twisted grin. "You wouldn't want anything to happen to your pretty little daughter, now would you?" he asked, stroking her hair.

This highly infuriated me.

"How dare you lay your filthy hands on her?" I shouted.

I darted forward, drawing my fist back in preparation.

But suddenly I was grabbed roughly from behind.

"So this is the mayor's son, eh?" I turned and was faced with a burly man…one of the escaped prisoners, I presume.

The man chuckled.

"He doesn't seem like such a threat to me."

This angered me.

"Let go of me!" I shouted, attempting to squirm out of the man's vice-like grip…but to no avail.

Sakon laughed.

"He's quite pathetic. Where was he when we kidnapped his daughter? Where was he when I tortured his wife, hmm?" he was provoking me intentionally, I realized.

He then pranced up to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Here is a token of my appreciation for banning me from Clock Town, thereby making it impossible for me to sell my stolen goods."

Next thing I knew, I felt something violently tearing through the flesh in my abdomen.

I threw my head back and cried out in pain, my face contorting into a pained grimace. The sharp object was then violently ripped out, and the burly man let go and I crumpled to the floor.

The pain was so intense I couldn't hold back my agony-filled scream.

I pressed my hand against the wound and felt a warm liquid dripping out of t.

At that point I realized just how deep the wound was.

I looked up to find that my vision was blurring.

"Kafei!" I heard Tom shout.

This alarmed me.

He was still in the entrance room.

I meant to shout at him to run away, but then I remembered Scarlett.

"Scarlett…" I whispered, coughing up blood.

I began to crawl towards the makeshift crib, still clutching my wound.

What a pathetic sight I must have been.

"Kafei!" I heard Tom repeat.

"Tom, leave!" I shouted as loud as I could. However, the contraction of the punctured muscles I'd used to shout made me bleed even more, thus putting me in even more pain.

My vision became even more blurred.

Finally I reached the crib.

"Scarlett…" I whispered.

"You're too late." I heard Sakon whisper in my ear.

Just as I attempted to pull myself up to my feet, I felt another stab in my mid back. I gasped in pain.

The last thing I saw was Scarlett.

She was wide-awake at this point. She began to cry when she saw the state I was in.

"Kafei!" Tom's voice was the last thing I heard before everything went black.

XXX

"Kafei! Wake up, man!"

"Tom! Run!" I shouted, snapping up.

I was breathing heavily.

Slowly, images of Sakon's lair and Scarlett came flooding back to me.

My hands instinctively flew to my abdomen, but there was no blood…no wound.

I twisted my arm into an awkward position to feel my back.

There was no wound there either.

So it was…

"…A nightmare." I whispered, falling down into my sleeping position onto my back.

"Kafei, are you okay? You started twisting around violently and screaming." Tom told me.

My heart was beating rapidly, and I was completely drenched in sweat.

"I'm fine." I managed to gasp.

That dream had seemed…so real.

"Are you alright?"

"…Yeah." I responded, still a bit shaken up.

In the dream, when I'd been stabbed, I could feel the pain. Tom's shouting must have been Tom in real life shouting at me when he noticed me tossing and turning, but all the emotions I felt…how angry Sakon had made me by taunting me, the terrified expression on Scarlett's angelic face when she saw me, me looking at her through my blurred vision, knowing I was going to die and not being able to protect her from Sakon…it was so realistic. So…intense.

"Kafei?" Tom asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Are you ready to get a move on?"

At this I stood up, staring at the ground with my fists clenched.

"We won't get anywhere by just rushing into this. We both rushed in angrily because of what happened to our families. The only thing that rushing in blindly will accomplish is getting us killed. We need some sort of strategy. These men are going to be dangerous. They snuck out of a heavily guarded prison. Today, we need to get as much information of Sakon's current whereabouts as possible. Once we find the new hideout, we need to scope out the area and spy on the prisoners to see what exactly we can expect. Then we'll also need some better weapons." I said, showing him the dull steak knife I had brought. He nodded. "I want to rush in and shred them to pieces just as much as you do, Tom, believe me. But we need to remember that they are dangerous and don't forget that they have Scarlett in their possession…and her life is much too precious for us to rush in and make even the smallest mistake…" Tom nodded. "So let's go talk to this scientist guy and see if he knows anything about Sakon or the prisoners."

"Okay." Tom agreed.

XXX

Anju's POV

I felt relieved to be back at the inn and out of the hospital ward, but that alone still did not ease my tension about Kafei running off after Sakon…Tom too, I assumed must have tagged along. Cremia had come to check up on me and see how I was doing. She told me that the prisoners raided the ranch and Tom's brother from the Trading Post had tried to help her, but they had killed him. So once it got around town that Tom was missing as well, I knew that the two must have run off together.

Madame Aroma came to the inn. For once, she and Mother were not bickering because they were both worried about Kafei and Scarlett.

"What do you think of these, Dearie?" Madame asked me, holding out a big stack of posters. They had a picture of Scarlett, and it said "10,000 rupee reward…no questions asked" and to contact Madame Aroma Dotour with any information.

I sighed.

"Yes, they are fine." I commented, handing them back to her.

"I figure that the only reason they're doing this is to get back at Kafei for what he did to that lowly thief Sakon, but they are all interested in money…especially Sakon." She said.

"Yes, but if Sakon does in fact somehow get word of the reward, he will send one of his lackeys to come collect it. He's not stupid enough to come himself." Mother responded.

"While you do bring up a good point, Eleanor, I am inclined to believe that Sakon will show up himself – maybe with some bodyguards of some kind – to collect the reward. If he were to send one of his lackeys to collect it, there is always the possibility that the man he sends could run off with the reward money for himself…and from what I heard, the one thing Sakon cares about IS money."

"I see your point, Aroma. But what will you do if they do come to collect the reward? Then what? We get Scarlett back, but then these men have just avoided punishment for escaping prison and kidnapping because of the 'no questions asked' policy? So now we have a bunch of dangerous escapees on the loose, free to come attack our family in the middle of the night? These men need to be captured as soon as they're discovered, Aroma. They've already attacked Anju. Now the Curiosity Shop owner and Kafei have run off after them. So who's not to say they return with Scarlett, collect their reward money, then return one night to murder our families? They took down a gate guard. They're highly dangerous. You can't just have them return Scarlett and them send them on their way."

"On the contrary, my main priority right now is my precious granddaughter. Once we have her in our possession, Kafei and Tom will return, then we can decide from there what to do next."

"Kafei won't leave it at that." I interrupted, causing both women to stare at me. I blinked back a tear. "I know him. It's not enough for the prisoners to just hand back Scarlett. He's angry for what Sakon did to me and for kidnapping his baby. He'll want vengeance, and he won't stop until he gets just that. And I'm willing to bet Tom feels the same way about his brother. Now excuse me. I would like to attempt to get some rest." With that, I left both women in an awkward silence as I headed up the stairs.

When I arrived at the bedroom, I snapped.

I immediately thought of Scarlett and then of Kafei and Tom. Then I couldn't get my nightmare out of my head.

"DAMN IT!" I shouted, throwing anything I could get my hands on. Glasses shattered, clothes and random objects lay scattered about…

…Without looking, I grabbed another object to throw and barely managed to stop myself in time.

My dad's old pendant…the Pendant of Memories.

I collapsed against the wall, still clutching the pendant. I began to sob.

I was upset about the fact that I was stuck here in my bedroom throwing things and crying while my husband and his childhood friend were out risking their lives to save Scarlett.

I was tired of being helpless.

There had to be something I could do besides sit here and cry.

Burning with newfound determination, I stood up, slung the pendant around my neck, grabbed a cloak and a dagger (which we keep in a convenient place in case of a break-in), some bottled fairies (just incase), and I headed out the second floor door.


	8. Vengeance

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, names, or places affiliated with Nintendo. I only own Scarlett, Kafei and Anju's baby. :P**

**Author's Note: Not much to say, except please R&R peeps! Reviews are my fuel! Without them, I wallow alone in the dark corner of my room in self-pity, tears streaking my cheeks as I sniffle and eat chocolate frosting straight out of a can, wondering where in my stories I went wrong…**

…**Just joking! But seriously, if you're reading this story, please feel free to drop in (I accept anonymous reviews) and just say hi, say what you like or even dislike about the story, or even if you have any questions about anything, I'd love to hear from you guys! So keep 'em coming! Story's almost done!**

**Sorry about the short chapter! x)**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo**

XXX

Kafei's POV

Tom and I struggled to catch our breath.

It had taken awhile, but we had managed to reach the top of the large cliff.

"That must be it, right?" I asked Tom, pointing to an odd-looking house. Tom nodded.

"Yes." He gasped, out of breath. I took out the canteen, took a swig, and then handed it to Tom, who proceeded to do the same.

Then we approached the odd-looking house and knocked on the door.

A little girl answered the door, and I felt a stabbing pain seemingly in my heart.

Seeing the little girl painfully reminded me of Scarlett, though they were clearly different in age.

"Um, hi little girl. Is…your daddy home?" Tom asked her.

"Who are you guys? What do you want?" she asked, frowning.

"We're from Clock Town. We're looking for somebody from this area and since we know you and your dad are the only other ones who live here, we thought he might know where we can find this guy we're looking for." Tom explained.

"You mean Sakon." She said.

It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

"Err…right." Tom said. The girl sighed.

She suddenly looked very saddened by something.

She opened the door further.

"Please come in. I'll tell you everything I know."

"Where's your dad? Out researching?" Tom asked her.

The girl shook her head rapidly.

"He's not home…what would you like to know about Sakon?" she asked.

I couldn't help but stare in to her eyes.

I've seen eyes like those before…but where?

"His whereabouts." Tom said. "Can you tell us that?"

"I don't know for certain." She told us, making our hopes falter. "…But I can tell you where he was last headed with his gang of thieves and a small baby."

"WHERE?" I shouted. The girl looked down at this.

"My dad had heard in town that they had escaped prison." She said. "So he followed them inside the Ikana Castle ruins. That was two nights ago. He still hasn't returned…I'm so worried." The girl then stood up and threw her arms around my waist. "Please find him! What if they hurt him?" she shouted, tears threatening to spill.

"We'll definitely look for him, okay?" I assured her, patting her back. The girl pulled away, her young eyes burning with determination.

"Sakon needs to be taught a lesson!"

"He certainly does." Tom agreed with her.

"Good luck." The girl said, wiping away her tears.

I then realized who her eyes reminded me of. Although she was young, her eyes showed maturity and strong determination beyond her years, just like Link's eyes.

XXX

"Where the hell could they be?" Tom asked, seemingly more to himself than me.

We had been wandering around the ruins aimlessly for about half an hour now…no sign of anybody yet.

"I don't know…but this place gives me the creeps."

As soon as I said that, bars blocked the door of the room we were in.

"…Shit." I muttered.

An evil laugh echoed, then a burly figure emerged from the shadows.

"You must be Dotour." The man said to me.

He then turned to Tom.

"And you kinda look like that scrawny fellow we brutally murdered a few days ago…ya dress like 'im, too."

"That was my little brother, asshole!" Tom shouted, his fists shaking with anger.

"Ahhh…your little brother, eh? Don't worry. He only suffered…a lot." The man said with a grin.

"You bastard!" Tom spat, blue eyes glistening.

"Listen you burly idiot…tell me where my daughter is." I demanded before the man could further provoke Tom. The man grinned.

"Oh, she's with Sakon. But don't worry; you won't get that far, anyway." He said, dangerously advancing on us.

I reached into my pouch and clasped my dagger in preparation (the young girl we met back at the strange-looking house was nice enough to provide us with some better blades from her dad's basement than the dull steak knife I'd formerly brought along).

Finally the man was close enough to attack.

"Like hell we won't!" I shouted.

Before the man could even register what I said, I already had darted past him with my arm outstretched, my hand containing the dagger.

I turn to see the man fall lifelessly, blood gushing out of the wound I'd created on his neck.

The bars on the doors in the room lifted, allowing us access into the next room. Tom was staring at me in shock.

"Serves him right." Tom finally said. "Let me get the next one." He added as we stepped into the next room.

A scrawny man with rat-like features was slouching in a chair, apparently sleeping.

"Too easy…" Tom mumbled.

He walked up to the sleeping man slowly with his weapon drawn.

At the last minute, the man's eyes snapped open and he kicked Tom in the shin, causing him to drop the knife and howl in pain.

Before I could even register what had happened, the man had already punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. I then felt a sharp pain on the side of my head as I fell to the floor, my weapon sliding just out of my reach.

Finally able to breathe again, I reached for my knife, soon feeling someone pull me up by my hair.

I hissed in pain as the rat-like man forced me to face him. With a grin, he punched me in the stomach again and pushed me so I fell backwards onto the floor.

Then he stood over me with a creepy smile.

"Sakon asked to see to it that you die slowly and suffering." He said, beginning to strangle me.

I already couldn't breathe to begin with from being punched.

I tried to reach for my knife, but it was just too far.

I soon gave up on the knife and attempted to pry the man's hands off my neck.

Just as everything started to get blurry, the man let go.

I gasped deeply, inhaling as much air as I could.

Once I could breathe, I saw the man dead with Tom standing above him with his knife, which was now bloody.

"I guess he forgot I was here." Tom said.

"Well, I'm glad you were. Thanks." I said, letting him help me up.

"Are you okay though?"

"Yes." I replied, gulping down some water. When I finished, I picked up and stashed my knife. "Let's go." I said, proceeding into the next room.

XXX

Third Person's POV

"She ran away too…" Eleanor said with her face in her hands.

"Well I'm sure she couldn't have possibly gotten far. She's still weak. She probably just went for a walk." Aroma tried.

"Don't think so. She had broken things up in her room, her clothes and drawers had been rummaged through, and her father's cloak and pendant are missing." Eleanor sighed. "What if she went to Ikana to follow Kafei and Tom?"

Aroma chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully but said nothing, her eyes filled with genuine concern.

XXX

Kafei's POV

I panted heavily, dodging the stocky man's sword again.

Tom was doubled over, weak from his wound.

The man's partner – Seth, I think he'd called him – lay dead in the corner of the room thanks to Tom, who'd done the deed when the man had tried to sneak up behind me with a hatchet.

Seth's friend over here apparently didn't appreciate that much, seeing as he'd given Tom a nasty gash in the stomach and was now coming after me.

Poor Tom was trying his hardest to remain standing.

The stocky man swung again, narrowly missing _my_ stomach. The man slashed again, sending my dagger flying out of my reach.

The man now had me backed up against the wall.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Tom hobbling over with his blade in hand.

"This is as far as you get, Dotour!" the man shouted.

"Where's my daughter?" I demanded.

"She's in Sakon's clutches, and she will remain in his clutches until he decides to dispose of her."

The man raised his sword and I braced myself for the impact…it never came.

I peeked just in time to see the man drop his sword, which I immediately picked up.

Apparently Tom had stabbed him in the back.

Tom was so weak that the wound he'd created wasn't grave enough to be fatal, but it had been enough to leave the man unarmed.

I used the time of the man's momentary shock to kick him in the face, sending him sprawling to the floor. I roughly grabbed him by his shaggy hair and shoved him against the wall, holding the sword against his throat.

"Tell me exactly where to find my daughter!" I shouted.

When the man didn't respond, I pushed the sword harder against his throat, causing him to whimper.

"Well?"

"S-Sakon's quarters are just the-three r-rooms away…keep g-going st-straight. But…"

"But what?"

"Y-y-you n-need a k-key."

"Where can I get one?"

The man hesitated before responding in a shaky voice.

"In m-m-my p-p-pouch."

"Tom?" I asked.

Tom nodded and yanked the man's pouch off his belt and began rummaging through it. Eventually he pulled out a small brass key.

"Is that it?" I asked the man with a sneer.

"Yes, s-sir. P-please l-let m-me go!"

Wow.

He thought I would actually let him go then give him an opportunity to attack again?

Fat chance.

"Is there anything else I should know?" I questioned. The man shook his head no. "Very well." With that, I brought the sword down and ran him through. The man gasped and then began to go limp.

I kicked him off the blade with my foot and let him fall dead.

At this point, Tom had lost quite a bit of blood.

"Tom!" I shouted, dropping the sword as he collapsed onto the floor.

His voice sounded weak.

"Kafei…" he whispered. "Go on without me…" my eyes immediately filled with tears.

"But…"

"You're so close. Don't make everything we did all in vain."

"No…" I whispered, tears streaming.

"Here." He handed me the brass key. "Stay strong. Go save Scarlett and rip that bastard Sakon to shreds."

I hesitated before taking the key.

"Thank you for everything." I whispered.

"Any time, Bud." He then groaned in pain. "One more thing. Tell…tell Cremia I…I…love her."

I stared in shocked, unable to believe my ears.

Tom smiled then closed his eyes.

I felt his whole body go limp.

And then I sobbed for my best friend.

After several minutes of mourning, I remembered who was the cause of this whole mess.

Sakon's gang killed Tom's brother. They kidnapped my child. Sakon raped and tortured my wife and left her for dead. Now Tom, my best friend since childhood, lay here lifelessly in my arms because he'd accompanied me to seek revenge and to rescue my dear Scarlett.

I murmured a quick prayer to the Guardians for Tom, and then I stood up.

Wiping my tears away, I proceeded to pick up the sword I'd used only minutes ago. I walked through the next door, eyeing a giant locked door on the opposite side of the room, just like the man had said.

I wielded the bloodstained sword in my right hand and the brass key in my left. I exhaled a deep breath sharply.

I could feel my whole body heating up in pure anger.

"That bastard is dead."

XXX

**A/N: Okay, as much as I would have enjoyed typing fleshed-out, vividly-described action-packed fight scenes, for the sake of the reality of the story, I left the action to the minimum and tried to make it more realistic because one: Kafei and Tom have no fighting experience, so therefore they'd get wounded easier and it'd be unrealistic for them to go all ninja-status all of the sudden! But wow, it's surprising how adrenaline can make you act!**

**RIP Tom, but before all the readers get upset at me, let me tell you this: things will all work out in the end. **

**Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story so far. Remember to R&R!**

**~Green Eyed Gerudo **


	9. Final Battle

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend Of Zelda or any of its characters. I do however own any OC's that may appear, such as baby Scarlett.**

**Author's Note: One last chapter soon to follow! Thanks to everyone who read and supported this story! **

XXX

Third Person's POV

A cloaked figure entered the room the violet-haired man had exited only moments ago.

The figure looked down and spotted three dead bodies on the ground.

Eyeing all three of them, the mysterious figure was immediately able to determine which was the enemy.

The figure then advanced towards the body of the person who had been verified to be his or her ally, and pulled out a bottle.

XXX

Kafei's POV

When I entered the room, I immediately took notice of the fact that the door did not bar itself, which was good incase something went wrong and I needed to grab Scarlett and run.

In the corner of the enormous room there was a large cell.

In it was an odd-looking man with reddish-brown hair and large lips.

I figured he must be the missing researcher.

In his arms was a small, frightened infant.

"Scarlett!" I breathed, darting to the cell.

There was my baby girl, safe and sound.

"Is this your child?" the man asked.

"Yes." I replied, dropping the sword and trying the brass key.

It was much too large for the cell's lock.

"Damn it!" I swore, throwing the key down in frustration.

It was then when I heard a laugh that sent chills down my spine.

I turned around slowly and sure enough, there was Sakon, and he wasn't alone.

Standing on either side of him were the Gorman brothers from the Gorman Racetrack.

Sakon dangled a long, skinny silver key in front of me tauntingly.

"Lookin' for this, Dotour?" he asked, smirking psychotically.

"You son of a bitch!" I spat, my rage skyrocketing. Sakon peered at each Gorman, each of whom snickered.

"Ooh, somebody's getting angry." He said in a mocking tone, as if he were talking to a cranky five ear-old child who skipped out on its naptime instead of a furious, full-grown man who was ready to tear him to pieces.

The Gormans each laughed.

"We're quaking in our boots!" one said, cracking up.

"You should be, piece of shit!" I snapped.

I had been clenching my fists so tightly that I could feel blood trickling down one of my palms from my nails, but I didn't pay it much notice.

Instead, I picked up the sword and charged at them.

Sakon stepped back and the Gormans came forward, both of which possessed daggers.

My first instinct was to swing the sword around blindly in rage, hoping to impale a vital organ. But figuring that would be dumb, I slowed down slightly and waited unblinkingly to see which brother would attack first.

The one to my right was the first to lunge.

I quickly sidestepped out of the way and swung the sword, grazing the man's shoulder.

He howled in pain and I barely had time to recoil from the heavy swing before the next brother attacked.

I swung the sword straight down and stabbed the second brother directly in the chest.

The man fell dead shortly after.

I heard the first brother cry out in despair and looked ahead to see Sakon looking on in surprise.

I decided to take his momentary shock to my advantage.

As I went to retrieve my sword from the dead brother's body, the first brother grabbed me by the hair and pulled me back, holding me by my arms. He had a surprisingly strong grip.

Sakon pranced forward triumphantly. When he was directly in front of me, he drove his fist into my gut.

Once again for the umpteenth time that day, I found myself struggling to catch my breath.

"Well, well, well, Dotour…look at the mess you've gotten yourself in. see what happens when you screw with dangerous people like me?"

I spat in his face. He grimaced in disgust, wiped the spit away with his sleeve, and then proceeded to kick out at my left knee. I grunted in pain and would've fallen had the still-alive Gorman not been holding me up.

Sakon was just about to aim a punch directly at my face, but he held back…a small, creepy smile forming on his face.

He then advanced towards the cell. He unlocked it, grabbed Scarlett, knocked the researcher to the floor, and relocked the cell.

"You know, such a pity…" Sakon said with a smirk. "…That this pretty baby couldn't even live long enough to see her first birthday." He then took the blanket Scarlett had wrapped around her and pushed it against her mouth and nose.

Scarlett let out a muffled cry and began thrashing about violently as she struggled to breathe.

"Scarlett! NO!" I bellowed, thrashing around madly to break free of Gorman's grasp. "DON'T!" I screamed, tears threatening to spill as I watched her struggle.

In the next moment, many things happened at once.

First, I heard the door burst open from behind us.

Secondly, Sakon had removed the blanket from Scarlett's face and was staring in shock at something behind us.

Before I could even begin to comprehend what was going on, Gorman released me with a cry of pain.

Not even interested in what had just happened, I darted towards Sakon with my knife ready.

Running alongside me was a mysterious cloaked figure.

Sakon backed up against the wall, a look of pure shock on his face. Then he held Scarlett out, who was now whining.

"I forfeit! Take her!" he pleaded.

The hooded figure nodded to me and took Scarlett from him gently.

I held the knife threateningly against his throat. He gulped.

"See what happens when you screw with dangerous people like me?" I growled, using his own words against him.

Within the next second, Sakon was no more.

There was a long silence in the room aside from my panting.

Then I sighed and dropped the bloody knife.

"Oh, Scarlett…" I whispered, kissing her forehead. The cloaked figure was about to say something before I caught sight of someone approaching.

I did a double take.

"Tom?" I shouted, running up to him. "But…how…?"

I was at a loss for words.

Tom merely smiled.

"That cloaked person revived me with a bottled fairy." I smiled and gave him a hug.

Now making sense of things, it seemed that Tom had stabbed and killed Gorman, thus making him let me go.

"Excuse me!" called the researcher.

"Oh…the key!" I pointed on the ground by the cell where Sakon had left it.

Tom proceeded to unlock it.

I turned to the cloaked person.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The person had been cradling Scarlett. They then handed Scarlett to me and removed the hood to reveal…

"Anju." I breathed, staring in disbelief.

XXX

Anju's POV

"Who are you?" he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

I handed Scarlett to him and revealed myself by removing my hood.

"Anju…" he whispered, stepping back in shock.

Tom and the researcher came to stand with us.

Tom gasped in surprise at me.

I smiled.

"Don't think I didn't know what happened to you guys as soon as we discovered you were both missing. I didn't want to just sit at home weeping each day while you were both out risking your lives. So I disguised myself and snuck out of town after first packing some necessities…including the stash of bottled fairies we keep at home. I saw you guys heading to the ruins as soon as I made it up here. I've been following you guys ever since."

"Well, thanks! You saved my life and in doing so, helped save Scarlett's and Kafei's as well!" I smiled at Tom then turned back to Kafei, who had a small frown on his face.

"…You could have gotten hurt." Was all he said.

"And you as well." I responded with a frown of my own. "If I hadn't come along, all of you wouldn't still be here, and I couldn't bear that." I said, letting my tears fall freely. "It was very foolish for you two to go after Sakon alone and without a plan…but I'm just glad everything worked out." I said, kissing Scarlett's forehead. I then stood on my tiptoes and kissed Kafei. "I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." He replied, smiling at me with glistening crimson eyes.

"Let's go home, shall we?" Tom suggested.

Everyone nodded in agreement, and I could've sworn I saw baby Scarlett smile for the first time…she must've known she was safe now.

XXX


	10. Thankfulness

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend Of Zelda or any of its characters. I do however own any OC's that may appear, such as Scarlett.**

**Author's Note: Final chapter! Again, thanks to everyone who reviewed and has been reading the story faithfully. It's because of you guys that I decide to continue on with my writing, because honestly, who wants to write stories if you think no one is reading or enjoying them? Again, thank you guys! And remember, if you like this story, it was suggested to me by a reviewer of one of my other stories on to do an Anju/Kafei fic. So if there's a particular Zelda character or couple you think I might be good at writing about, please feel free to either PM me or tell me in a review. I'll be glad to give it a shot and post what I come up with! **

**And finally, without further adieu, I bid to you the final chapter of Promise of the Sun and Moon!**

Five years later…

Kafei's POV

I smiled as I stood next to Tom outside the West Gate by the fountains. He was pacing nervously.

I still couldn't get over the fact he was actually getting married…and he most likely couldn't believe it, either.

"I can't believe it…I'm finally getting married!" he shouted.

There you have it.

I put my hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Relax, bud." I told him with a smile.

He ceased in his pacing and sighed.

"Kafei, I've never felt so nervous before! What if she decides to bail at the last minute? What if I don't live up to her expectations as a husband? What if–"

"Tom," I interrupted. "Everything will be just fine." I assured him, remembering that I felt the exact same way when I first married Anju.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I said with a laugh.

"The bride is coming." Said a feminine voice that after all these years still melted my heart whenever I heard it (dear Lord, if Tom ever heard me say that aloud I'd never hear the end of it…).

We all turned to see Anju exit from West Clock Town.

She wore a blue gown, which made her eyes look absolutely stunning.

She gracefully made her way to stand beside me.

I greeted her with a kiss.

"You look beautiful, honey." I told her.

She smiled and pointed.

"You want to see a beauty? Take a look at our daughter." She said.

Scarlett came walking out in a pale pink frilly dress with white, strappy sandals. Her dark auburn hair was curled in little ringlets that cascaded halfway down her back, half of her hair tied in a large, pink bow. A pearl necklace adorned her neck.

She excitedly ran over and hugged me, her head now almost reaching my waist.

"Look at you! You look like a little princess!" I told her, kissing the top of her head.

"I did her hair!" said a voice.

It belonged to Romani, who was now seventeen. Jim, the ex-Bombers leader, was escorting her.

She wore a dress similar to Anju's.

"You did a great job on it." I commented, Scarlett running to Tom.

"Uncle Tom! Auntie Cremia looks like an angel! Just wait until you see her!" she shouted excitedly.

"She looks stunning." Romani assured him with a nod.

"I'm sure she does." Tom agreed, his face going white with nervousness.

Scarlett excitedly jumped up and tugged on his bowtie, causing it to become undone.

"Scarlett!" Anju and I cried disapprovingly.

"It's fine." Tom said. He attempted to retie it, but his hands were too shaky due to his nervousness.

"Aw, Tom!" Romani said, letting go of Jim's hand to fix the bowtie.

Just as she finished, Cremia entered.

She wore a dress very similar to Anju's on our wedding day.

The couple said their "I do's", and then everyone went about enjoying the carnival festivities.

Mother, who has been sober for five years now (and gets along great with Anju, my father, and even Eleanor, I might add), ran around snapping photos to publish in the town newspaper.

Romani and Jim stole Scarlett from us and took her around to enjoy the children's festivities.

At the end of the day, Anju and I sat on the steps leading to the Laundry Pool, watching the last of the fireworks die out, Scarlett asleep in my lap.

This reminded me of when Anju and I were still young, talking about marriage.

I remember that day clearly, as I'm sure Anju does, too…except now we had Scarlett added to the picture, which made it even better.

"Happy anniversary, Love." I told Anju. She smiled.

"Happy anniversary, Kafei." She whispered, planting a kiss on my lips and resting her head on my shoulder.

Here I am, an innkeeper married for six years, almost no problems at all…I have no enemies…just a great family, loving wife, and a beautiful five year-old daughter, who is alive, safe, and well.

And here I sit on my anniversary, watching the fireworks with my two favorite girls…

…Life is great.

I'll never take that for granted again.

THE

END


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